The Case of the Missing Kotsu
by Abarero
Summary: When one of the seven members of the Kotsu gang goes missing, it's up to detectives Kagome and Inuyasha to solve the case. Now they'll team up with everyone from friends to former enemies to find the culprit in time. InuKagome, BankJakotsu
1. Chapter 1

Author's Notes: Okay, a few things before you start reading…

1. Warnings- This fiction does contain mild-to-strong shounen-ai/yaoi overtones (Bankotsu/Jakotsu) at times, if that is not something you feel comfortable reading, then this story isn't for you. Also, seven of the major characters in this are the 7 members of the Shichinin-tai (featured in volumes 24-28 of the manga and episodes 102+) if you are unfamiliar with these particular characters it will be hard to fully enjoy reading this fiction, and you might come across inadvertent spoilers involving character interaction.

2. Point of View- The story is written from Kagome's viewpoint.

3. This story (chapters 1-29) was revised on January 24, 2006. As such, some changes have been made to those chapters that may affect your reading of later chapters. If you have the time, feel free to re-read.

4. Sit back, enjoy, and see if you can solve the mystery first!

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**The Case of the Missing Kotsu**

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**------June 5th------**

**Entry beginning at 10:01AM**

It was a quiet day, as I sat in my office- the rain pouring down outside making the whole outlook a little dreary. Ever since our run-in with the Kotsu gang about a week ago, things here at the Shikon no Tama Detective Agency were awfully quiet. True, the Naraku case was still wide open, but we had our agents Miroku and Sango out looking for any leads on that one. Well Sango is most likely looking for clues, and Miroku- he's most likely looking at Sango's ass. Good help these days is so hard to find.

"This sucks," the voice caused me to look over at the person sitting nearby- or should I say "on top of the furniture"?

"Inuyasha, what have I told you about sitting _on_ my desk?"

"Keh! Well you won't give me my own desk, so where else am I supposed to sit?"

"Well, maybe if you actually did something around here, then we'd have the money to get you a desk. And even a _chair_ for it," I noted, aptly glaring at the unoccupied chair and couch we had.

"Hey, I beat up some of those gang members last time!"

"We were trying to question them about their connection with Naraku, not beat the shit out of them."

"...oh..."

Before I could attempt to pound some sense into my slightly irritating partner, a knock was heard at the door. I glared at Inuyasha.

"Can't you even answer the door?"

He mumbled something under his breath, got up and unbolted the door. Then, all I could hear was a slur of cuss words and something about, "Didn't I already kick your ass enough the other day." At that, I decided perhaps I should handle this.

After pushing Inuyasha out of the doorframe, I discovered why he was upset. It was Bankotsu, leader of the Kotsu gang- but something was different. Instead of the strong-willed leader we'd faced the other day, he looked like a wreck. His eyes were red, his normally neat braided hair was mussed and his clothes were a mess. That's when I noticed him holding a pink shirt and an intricate hairpin.

Grabbing Inuyasha forcefully by the arm, Bankotsu leveled with him.

"Look, I know you probably don't wanna help me- but you're the only ones I can turn to. He's missing, all I can find is his hairpin and…"

"What about the pink shirt?" Inuyasha asked, cutting him off.

"Hmph," The dark-haired man crossed his arms, "He left it my house last night, not that it's any of your damned business!"

"Please- Bankotsu, right?" He indicated yes, and I continued, "If you'd sit down over here, we need to ask a few questions first before we can get started on investigating this situation," I said attempting to get him calmed down. He just nodded and sat in the indicated chair.

Inuyasha sulked, "And why in the hell are we helping him again?"

"Inuyasha, a case is a case. And we already have proven that the Kotsu gang knew nothing of Naraku's previous deeds when they'd agreed to assist him. In fact, they never even came into contact with Naraku himself, just his henchmen."

The white-haired young man grumbled and plopped down in the desk chair.

"Fine."

I smiled weakly at our current client, hoping it would ease the tension my partner had just created. "Okay, I understand that you're upset, but can you please tell me what exactly happened?"

I saw him inhale a deep breath and clutch the hairpin closer before he began, "It started early this morning..."

I snatched up a notepad (after prying it out from under Inuyasha's foot) and listened closely.

"Do you know the time?" I inquired. Details were always very important.

"About three this morning."

I nodded for him to continue.

"Jakotsu had come to visit me. After he left, I realized that he'd left his shirt behind; so I went to go give it to him, but I couldn't find him anywhere. I asked everyone- Mukotsu said he'd been out getting some chemicals for some new elixir of his, Ginkotsu and Kyoukotsu were asleep, Suikotsu said he'd seen him walking towards Renkotsu's, and that's when- when I found this." He said holding up the hairpin.

"And then you talked to Renkotsu, I assume?"

"Yeah, I saw Renkotsu in the alley looking around at the ground- like he was trying to pick up something small."

"Where's this alley at?"

"The one off 162nd street, with the warehouses to the left"

I wrote it down and then looked back to Bankotsu, "Okay, what then?"

"Then he picked up the hairpin. When I asked him about it, he said that Jakotsu was supposed to meet him at 3:30 am and when he didn't show up- like me, he'd gone out to look."

"So the last person to talk to him, was you, right?"

"Yes," Bankotsu hung his head, his voice growing softer, "I had a really bad feeling when he left. I told him he could stay, but he insisted on going back to his place. He didn't want to get me in trouble and now he's...he's..."

He stopped short, as he noticed the tears that had begun to fall.

"Shit, I'm crying," He murmured, quickly wiping the tears away.

For a moment he went silent, almost as if he was composing himself. Then with a deep breath, he looked back up at me; piercing blue eyes saying more than his words ever would.

"Sorry about this, I'm just…worried."

Reaching inside his pocket, he pulled out a handkerchief of sorts. Bankotsu caught sight of something wrapped inside it and I could see that whatever it was seemed to upset him only further. Mumbling to himself, he looked at something on the side of his lighter.

"That was just two days ago- now this."

As his hand dropped into his lap, I finally saw the reason for his reaction. On the side of the silver lighter he held, was a one of those small pictures on a sticker. Bankotsu was towards the front with Jakotsu smiling and leaning up over his shoulder. They both looked so happy together and it only confirmed my prior suspicions about the two. This wasn't just an issue of a missing comrade and friend. No, Bankotsu's relationship with Jakotsu ran much deeper than that.

"Um...well, is there anything else you think that could be important?" I figured if I tried to keep his mind from dwelling on it, it might ease a little of the worry.

"Not that I can think of right now."

"All right then, we'll start on the case right away. Perhaps you should get some sleep."

He smiled a bit at the offer, and then shook his head. "I am a little sore from last night, but I'd rather do what I can to help find him. I don't think I can sleep without knowing he's okay."

Inuyasha just twitched and muttered under his breath, "I didn't want to know about what or who you did last night."

I frowned at him (glad that Bankotsu didn't overhear) and nodded to the young gang leader. I'd had a feeling he wasn't going to leave so easily, but luckily I had an idea there.

Pulling out a small tape recorder from my desk, I handed it to him, "Take this, and go ask your friends again. Tape what they have to say, without them knowing it if you can. We might be able to find some clues that way."

He looked down at the recorder, then forced a smile.

"Here. It's my cell phone number..." He said quickly scrawling it down on a scrap of paper from the desk. "Call me if you find out _anything_ at all about Jakotsu's whereabouts and I want your number so I can contact you."

I nodded, wrote the number and handed it to him. "Just see what you can find out, and we'll do the same." He took the paper, thanked us, and walked out the door.

Once he was gone, I picked up a few pens, pencils and notepads, and prepared to go out and search for clues myself.

"Inuyasha, please get the gun out of the safe."

"What?"

"162nd street. isn't in the nicest part of town; I want us to have it just in case."

"Fine fine."

"And hand me the whistle."

At that, he scowled at me. I knew he wasn't too fond of me using a dog-whistle to call out to him when in a desperate situation, but with hearing like his it actually came in quite handy.

"Keh! What do you need that whistle for?"

"Just in case I need your help and we get separated."

He glared, "You use it when it's not an emergency though."

Okay, so there was that time I used it to get him to shut up. And that time I used it to keep him and Miroku from arguing, and that time I... maybe he was actually right.

"... but..."

He dropped the small silver whistle into my hands. "Only emergencies...okay? It hurts my ears."

The little white dog-ears twitched at their mentioning. I remember at first, I wasn't quite sure what to make of a guy with white hair, let alone dog-ears, but Inuyasha swore that it was due to radiation and that they couldn't be surgically removed unless he wanted to be deaf the rest of his life. Honestly, I think that perhaps he's just one of those freaks of nature- like those three-eyed cows and things of that sort. Then again, from the few times I've encountered his elder half-brother, maybe it's just their family that has the problem.

"Are you coming or not?" His voice snapped me out of my inner thoughts, and I nodded to him.

"Yes, of course, just help me carry a few more things."

We managed to get the various items needed for a proper investigation all loaded into the car and we headed out to the Shichinin-district.

As we drove, I looked over at Inuyasha, "So what are your thoughts on this whole issue?"

"You do know that this Jakotsu guy is gay right?"

I blinked- that was definitely not the answer I was expecting.

"Yes, I do believe you mentioned that to me last week when we dealt with them."

"Well, when I was fighting them back then, that Jakotsu guy was- you know- hitting on me," He cringed at the memory, "But that Bankotsu guy kept going out of his way to help Jakotsu fight."

"They do seem really close."

"The whole group did from what I picked up, but there was something about that one guy."

I stopped my writing and looked up. This might be a clue.

"What guy?"

"When I had Jakotsu cornered once, Bankotsu kept yelling at this guy- um, I think his name was Renkotsu- to help. Renkotsu just yelled back that Jakotsu should get himself out of his own problem."

"So this person openly disobeyed the gang leader's orders even when a fellow member's life was on the line?"

"That or he was just irritated that Jakotsu had gotten," Inuyasha coughed, "- distracted and figured that it was his own fault for getting trapped."

"Could be as well, but until we know more about the group's dynamics I think that it's highly suspicious. Can you describe him?"

"Bald."

Silence followed, "Is that all?"

"Hey, I was kind of trying to keep the others from killing me and that gay guy from kissing me- I was a bit too busy to be writing down some bald-guy's stats!"

I rolled my eyes, I should have known better than to think Inuyasha would pay attention to details when he was in the middle of a fight. I looked over the notes I had so far- so this Renkotsu doesn't seem to find Jakotsu's fighting style conducive to the group, disobeys orders from the leader, and then- he was the one in the alley looking for something when Bankotsu went to look for Jakotsu. There's got to be some connection here- but what?

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After pausing only to get some food for lunch, we continued on our mission to the Shichinin-District. We got out of the car at the corner of 161st St and slowly looked about the area. That's when we heard another car pulling around the bend.

"Quick, hide!" I stammered and pulled Inuyasha behind the side of our car.

A fancy black car stopped right next to ours and a tall figure got out. I blinked, he looked...familiar. As he removed the sunglasses he wore, I then knew for sure; but before I could say anything, Inuyasha had jumped up.

"Aha! I knew you were working against me! I bet you're in with Naraku- you low-life, good for nothing..."

The man looked over at us, and raised an eyebrow. The rest of his face entirely calm.

"Well well brother, I see you still aren't any closer to catching Naraku, eh? Then again, you did send out those other agents to find clues. But if I know that Miroku, he's looking at his partner more than he's looking for clues."

Inuyasha just glared, and I attempted to hold him back.

"Sesshoumaru, what are you doing here anyway?" He said storming forward.

"I am working on my agency's case. As for you, I can only assume that you are out trying to find some meager clue to base a case off of."

"For your information we have plenty of clues!"

I sighed, he always bragged before thinking.

"Really now little brother, you shouldn't lie about things."

"Aw, shut up! You stuck up..."

"Oh, and just so you know. I've already got my partner disguised within Naraku's ranks, so don't go exposing her whereabouts, got that?"

"You what?" Inuyasha exclaimed at the same moment as I did.

"A good detective agency always has an inside man. Or in this case- an inside woman. After a few more tapes that she's rigged, I'm sure that I'll have all the evidence I need."

"But how did you…" I stammered.

"We aren't the best Detective Agency in the city for no reason. Now if you two little league private eyes would excuse me, I have a real case to attend to."

With that, and not a word else, Sesshoumaru walked off down the street.

"Why I oughta--"

I placed a hand on Inuyasha's shoulder. If there was one thing that always pissed him off, it was his elder half-brother always beating him at everything.

"Inuyasha, come on. We have a real case to worry about as well."

"Keh! I hate that jerk," He muttered before following me towards the alley at 162nd St.

We started looking all around area. The alleyway was small, fairly narrow with a dumpster at the end. After finding nothing much, I began to analyze the alley itself. The only way in was from the street or...I paused- there was something white caught on the rusted fire escape on the right side. I hadn't noticed it before, it was very small and almost blended in.

"Inuyasha...there's something over here." I said walking in that direction.

Upon closer inspection, it appeared to be a small piece of fabric- obviously torn off by the rusted metal. I pulled the camera out of my bag and took a few shots before using some tweezers to lift the fabric into a plastic bag.

"Well, we've barely been here and we already..."

"Yah- just _four _hours!"

I frowned at the interruption and continued, "_And_ we've already found our first clue!"

"Make that-second clue."

I turned to where Inuyasha was hunched over the ground. "What? What did you find?"

"Look" He pointed to a small gold ring barely visible through the dirt it was submerged in. After following proper procedure- it too was placed in a plastic bag.

"A piece of white fabric and a gold ring," I mused to myself.

"We should be going Kagome, it's getting dark."

I nodded, gathered my things and loaded it into the car. On the drive back, I pulled out my cell phone and dialed the number Bankotsu had left for me. I wanted to tell him about the clues we'd found. But...there wasn't an answer.

"Inuyasha- drive faster."

"What? Why?"

"Bankotsu's not answering his phone. Maybe...maybe he's at the office," I replied, evident worry in my tone. Inuyasha knew right away what I was concerned about.

"Or maybe he knew too much, and someone..."

"Got rid of him," I finished solemnly.

The engine revved as we sped back to the office. My mind was racing too. Where could Bankotsu be? One missing Kotsu was bad enough.

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Preview for Chapter 2- Jakotsu's missing, and now, Bankotsu can't be reached. Will another member of the Kotsu gang be of help? Or will they just cause more problems for our detectives?


	2. Chapter 2

Author's Notes: This chapter was revised on January 24, 2006.

Also, when it switches from _italics_ to standard text inside "_italic_ standard" quotations like that, it's not thoughts, but actually, another voice from the speaker. Trust me, once you see it, you'll figure out what I mean.

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**------June 5th------**

**Entry beginning at 6:33PM**

_A gold ring and a piece of white cloth._ _It just doesn't make sense. And where is Bankotsu?_

I thought to myself as we rushed into the building that housed our office. Upon reaching the top of the stairs to the second floor, we could make out a voice saying something. Or maybe it was two voices.

"Come on Bankotsu, this is no time to be unconscious. _He just drank too much, damn baka_. Now now, he's had a very bad day. He deserves to relax a little. _Kuso, just because he wants to be upset doesn't mean we should have to scrape him up off the pavement or pay his bar tab_. Well, Jakotsu is missing, so someone has to watch out for him. _And why does that someone have to be us? _We are his friend. _Maybe you are_. Don't talk like that! Bankotsu is your friend too; you just don't want to admit it. _You're the one who doesn't want to admit that I just don't give a damn_!"

I was relieved to hear that whoever it was had Bankotsu with them. So we turned the corner, fully expecting to find Bankotsu and two others; but instead, there was just Bankotsu and one other guy. He was tall, and had brown hair down to his shoulders and apparently...was arguing with himself.

"Um...can I help you?"

He turned abruptly to face me. It appeared that Bankotsu was unconscious and slumped up against our office door. He smiled briefly, "Are you Miss Kagome?"

"Why yes..."

"Good, Bankotsu passed out at the bar and he asked me to bring him here."

"I see, let's get him inside," _So that's why he wasn't answering his phone,_ I thought, then turned to get Inuyasha to help me move the poor guy, but found him glaring at the other man.

"Well well, we meet again."

"_Don't think I've forgotten what you did to us_. Now, it was just a misunderstanding, no reason to fight. _Sorry, but I owe this baka a punch for that bruise he left last week_."

"So you're Suikotsu, eh?" Inuyasha cracked his knuckles, "Funny, last time you seemed to be speaking more in Japanese."

"_Kuso, don't insult me you freak! It's not my fault my other half won't sleep today_!"

I stepped between them, "Can't we continue this later? I'd like to get Bankotsu off the floor."

"Keh! Fine, I'll finish him off later."

The man's face seemed to soften for a moment, "Of course, we need to attend to him first. _Yeah, then we'll take care of our little grudge_."

Finally, we got Bankotsu inside and managed to clear all our junk off the small sofa in the corner. Then, I sent Inuyasha to get a cold compress- I didn't trust leaving him alone with this "Suikotsu" quite yet. Once he was gone down the hall, I decided it would be a good time to ask a few questions.

"So, you're Suikotsu, right?"

"Oh, so sorry for the informal introduction. Yes, I am Suikotsu," He paused for a second and frowned, "You'll have to pardon my behavior. I haven't had the chance to take my medicine yet today. _Who needs that damn medicine anyway? _We do and you know it. _Why would I need something that always makes me sleep_?"

I blinked, nope it wasn't my imagination; the guy was talking to himself. Before I could inquire more, Inuyasha returned and we were able to get Bankotsu to come to. Suikotsu walked over to him once he seemed conscious.

"_Shimatta, Bankotsu- this is no time to go getting yourself drunk_!"

He squinted a little and rubbed his forehead, "...Suikotsu, quiet for a bit will ya?"

"_Baka, if you have a headache, it's your own damn fault_!"

"Only half asleep, eh? Suikotsu, worry about me after you take your pills."

"_I don't need any damn pills! Let him sleep_."

"Shhh. My head's killing me."

"Yes, please be quiet. You're annoying me! _Idiot, you're the one annoying me_!"

Bankotsu placed a firm hand on his shoulder, "Suikotsu, why haven't you taken your medicine today?"

"I'm sorry Bankotsu. I haven't been able to... _Damn medicine. I'm not a wimp, and I ain't taking it anymore_!" Suikotsu slammed his hand down onto the desk, sending a few pens and papers flying. "Now calm down or someone might get hurt. _Shut up ya asshole!_ Watch your language, there's a lady present. _I'll use what words I want when I want, bastard_!"

Bankotsu was obviously struggling to convince at least one of the two sides to take the medication he now held in his hand. "Come on Suikotsu, it's time for your medication. Don't make me force it down your throat again."

"_Come on ya little wimp- try me_! Now, that's enough! Bankotsu is upset, you shouldn't be challenging him at a time like this. _I can challenge him whenever I damn want, Baka_! Please, just until we find Jakotsu, behave yourself? _Kuso._ _Fine, I'll go back. But once we find that little weirdo, you better let me back out_." He nodded, answering his own question and took the small bottle from Bankotsu. "You'll have to excuse him, he's been quite a pain lately."

"Mukotsu still looking into other forms of medication, I take it?"

"Yes, and I'm helping him with it. The pharmaceutical world is quite fascinating."

I laughed a bit nervously; apparently, I'd missed something along the line here.

Bankotsu continued to rub at his forehead; "You got any coffee around here? It might help."

"Oh, of course," I walked over to the coffee maker and started the water brewing.

"And, sorry about Suikotsu going off like that, the moron needs to take his medicine when he's supposed to."

"I know Bankotsu, it's just when I saw you at the bar like that I was so worried about getting you somewhere safe that I forgot."

"Yeah, yeah. Just don't let it happen again. I can only take so much of that- how do you say it? Baka?"

"Yes, baka."

Inuyasha scowled, "So what's with the sometimes Japanese, sometimes not?"

"I'm of Japanese heritage. Normally, I use English when talking because it's easier for those around me to understand, but sometimes, if he gets a bit out of control, he'll revert to Japanese words. Sorry about that, if you'll excuse me a moment..." He walked down the hall to the restroom, most likely to take the medication that had been such an issue moments before.

Bankotsu just shook his head. "He was only half asleep this time, just "baka," "shimatta," and "kuso" -sometimes, he gets so bad I can't make out a damn thing he's saying."

"Like when I faced him a week ago?"

I walked over and handed Bankotsu the mug, he nodded his thanks and replied, "Oh yeah, you did get the infamous "Temee, omae o korosu" after landing that punch on his face."

"What's that supposed to mean anyways?" Inuyasha was cracking his knuckles again, and I hoped that whatever it meant wasn't too bad.

"Oh, just means, "I will kill you." Suikotsu always says that to people who really piss him off, and for someone to land a punch on him, that's enough to do it."

Luckily, before the matter could be addressed any further, Suikotsu had returned.

"So, I'm guessing that you'll want to question me in regards to this matter," He asked approaching me.

"Well yes, we are trying to see if those that knew the people involved could perhaps give us any leads."

"Okay, just ask away."

He sat down on the arm of the couch, and I found my notebook with the original questions we'd asked Bankotsu.

"Bankotsu mentioned to us earlier that you told him you last saw Jakotsu walking towards Renkotsu's correct?"

"Yes, that was about- ten minutes after three this morning. He was walking down the street that led towards where Renkotsu's at."

"I see, did you notice anything strange?"

"Jakotsu seemed a bit tired, his hair was mussed, and he was just wearing his purple undershirt- but that's all I could tell."

Bankotsu just coughed slightly at this. "…umm…he left his outer shirt at my house."

Suikotsu just smirked and slapped Bankotsu on the back, "Well, it's no wonder that boy was tired then."

Inuyasha just spewed out his drink. "Okay, too much info!"

I was just about to comment on the whole issue when there was a slight knock on the office door. I went to answer, but no one was there.

Then I saw it, a small white envelope placed neatly on the floor in front of the door. I picked it up and looked it over. It didn't have any writing on the outside, so I took it back in.

"Neh Kagome, what was that about?" Inuyasha muttered.

I held up the envelope, "I didn't see anyone, but someone left this."

"What's it say?"

"I'm not sure, let me look at," I opened it carefully. Inside was just a simple index card, which I read aloud.

"_Only you can help them. Both of them. Please, save them both."_

"Is that all?"

"And it's simply signed "_X_" That's all."

Bankotsu just tilted his head. "Seems mysterious…"

Suikotsu stood, and looked at it over my shoulder. "Save them both? Who's missing besides Jakotsu?"

"I…don't know. I'm not even sure if they are talking about Jakotsu."

Inuyasha then came over to look as well. "Is it written by any of the other Kotsu gang members?"

"I don't recognize the handwriting," Suikotsu said as he took it from my hands, "Here, Bankotsu do you?"

"Suikotsu, you know well enough that if Kyoukotsu wrote that, it wouldn't be spelled correctly, Ginkotsu would have probably signed his name, and Mukotsu's handwriting is not this legible. Of course, it's possible that your other half wrote it; but hen it would most likely have had at least one Japanese word in it."

"What about the seventh member?"

"Renkotsu? No, this isn't his handwriting."

"That's very strange," I said yawning. It had been a long day and I was starting to get tired.

"Keh, we can worry about it tomorrow. I want to go home." Inuyasha said pulling the letter out of Bankotsu's hands, and locking it in the desk drawer with the other clues.

Suikotsu frowned a bit, "Bankotsu maybe you should stay at my place tonight. I'm not sure if you should go to your house."

"I doubt they'll mess with him," Inuyasha muttered.

"Actually, I was more worried about things there that might upset him."

Thinking over his reaction that morning, I had to agree. There were probably pictures and other things that would just remind the poor guy of his missing friend.

"No Suikotsu, I don't want to get you involved in this anymore than I have to. Plus, I need to make sure these people get the tapes I made," Bankotsu said forcing a smile, he was really trying to keep his spirits up despite it all.

"But Bankotsu..."

"Go on home Suikotsu, I'd feel better knowing you were somewhere safe rather than worrying about me."

He nodded, and went to the door.

"Sorry again Miss for the trouble my other self caused, and Bankotsu has my number. Feel free to call if you or he needs anything."

"I will, thanks again Suikotsu"

And with that, he walked down the stairs and off down the street.

"Here are those tapes you asked me to get," Bankotsu said handing the recorder to me.

"Oh, thanks"

"Tomorrow, Kagome; we will deal with it tomorrow. I'm hungry, I'm tired, and I have to go home and deal with my half-brother being- well...himself."

"Oh yes, those raised eyebrows are scary," I said, sarcasm dripping.

"Shut up!"

Bankotsu stood between us, "It's okay. He can go home. I think we are all tired after today."

Inuyasha just stuck out his tongue at me, and crossed his arms. I shook my head. Sometimes he could be so childish.

"Fine fine, you can go on home Inuyasha. I just have a few things I want to do here before I go home myself."

He glared a bit, "And what about him?"

"I'll leave once I'm sure the tapes I gave Kagome work. Sheesh, don't worry about it."

"Keh! Fine," He grabbed up his coat and went out the door, a barely audible, "Goodnight Kagome" was muttered before the door swung closed.

I was just about to go over to the desk and take another look at that gold ring; perhaps even ask if Bankotsu knew if Jakotsu had one like that, when I heard him sit back down on the couch. I turned to see what was going on, and found him with his face in his hands.

"Shit. Suikotsu was right- what was I thinking? I can't go back home. I'll just…think of him."

I walked over and sat down next to him.

"You two were really close, weren't you?"

He nodded. "...very."

"I would suggest having you call Suikotsu and going over there, but I know enough from being around Inuyasha, that a tough guy would never admit defeat and do something like that."

Bankotsu smiled lightly at that, "Okay, so you got me there."

"Would you like to stay here? You can sleep on this couch, if you don't mind."

"If you're sure you don't mind. I mean- it is your office"

"No, not at all. I'm just glad I can help you out. I really wish I could have done more to help you find Jakotsu today. But I'll keep working, and with Inuyasha's help- I'm sure we'll find him for you."

"Thanks. I just hope that wherever his is, he's okay."

"So do I," Pausing a moment, and figuring it was worth a try- I turned back to him, "Um... can I ask you something before I go?"

"What?"

"Did Jakotsu ever wear a gold ring?"

"No. I've never seen him wear any rings."

"Okay, just trying to figure out if what we found might connect."

I saw him reach into his pocket, pulling out the lighter from earlier. I tilted my head, trying to get a better look at the design on the handkerchief. I was right, it was a pink bunny.

"Something wrong?"

"Oh- um no," I gestured nervously, "I just found it strange for someone like you to own something like that."

His face grew dark, "...Jakotsu gave it to me."

"Oh."

Cursing myself inwardly for not being more tactful, I muttered an apology, "Sorry, I shouldn't pry."

"It's okay. You didn't mean to bring it up."

The room went quiet for a bit, then he spoke again.

"… Would you mind staying here tonight?"

"What?"

"I just don't want to..."

_...Be alone_. I answered mentally. He really was hurting inside, even if he was trying not to let it show. Hoping that it might help him, at least a little, I decided why not and caved in.

"I've got a blanket in the closet. I'll just use that," I said with a smile.

He shook his head, "Your partner must be one lucky guy."

I could feel the blush rushing to my face, "Um...excuse me?"

"Never mind," He said with a slight smirk. "You can have the couch; I'll use the blanket."

"But you're a guest and..."

"And, I'm used to roughing it; the floor is better than some places I've slept in."

I just nodded; I guess there was no use arguing with him. After a few minutes of getting things situated, I curled up on the couch. As I was just about to drift off, I heard Bankotsu whisper something.

"…'night Jakotsu, wherever you are."

----------------------------------------------------------

Preview for Chapter 3: Suikotsu has made his appearance, and his "other side" does draw some questions. But who is this mysterious X? And who is in trouble besides Jakotsu?


	3. Chapter 3

Author's Notes: This chapter was revised on January 24, 2006.

---------------------------------------------------

**------June 6th------**

**Entry beginning at 9:29AM**

I'm not quite sure when it was I woke up, all I know is that it wasn't a very good thing to wake up too. Somehow, I'd rolled off the couch and was now lying on top of Bankotsu.

And if that wasn't bad enough, Miroku and Sango were both there- gaping at me. What a perfect time for them to come into the office…

"Um… hi guys." I said meekly, as I got up- trying my best not to disturb Bankotsu.

Sango kept blinking, and Miroku just grinned. "Got tired of waiting for Inuyasha to make a move, eh Kagome?"

"It's not what it looks like," I whispered back, indicating with my hands that I wished for Bankotsu to remain asleep.

Miroku's grin became even wider, "Oh, of course, we won't tell Inuyasha that you gave up on him to go sleep with the member of that Kotsu gang."

"Miroku..." I said dangerously.

"Especially since you had the nerve to sleep with him here in the office."

Sango stepped forward and whispered to him, "Come on, let's at least hear her side of the story before you start going off thinking she's as perverted as you."

"Ouch..." Miroku replied, faking a hurt tone in his voice.

"Can't we at least go out in the hall and talk about this?" I persisted; I needed to keep Bankotsu asleep. If he woke up and started acting all friendly with me, it wouldn't look good.

Right now, I was just wishing I had taken the time to call them in regards to our case with Bankotsu. Then again, things were just getting worse and worse. Upon looking down, I noticed my shirt was somewhat unbuttoned, my skirt twisted, and my hair... was probably a mess. And right as that realization hit me; the door opened and none other than Inuyasha himself walked in.

"Neh, Kagome, so about those clues..."

He stopped dead in his tracks upon taking in the sight before him. I winced, and could only imagine what it appeared like to Inuyasha. Me standing there, clothes rumpled, Bankotsu sleeping on the floor, and Sango and Miroku looking at me like Inuyasha had just caught me red-handed.

"Kagome… how-how could you!"

"Inuyasha, please...let me explain."

"And with him of all people!"

I blinked and searched for a nice quick escape route.

"You slept with him when he's-he's… well he had that pink shirt!"

It was just then that Bankotsu had rolled in his sleep, muttering a few words, "Jakotsu, don't go..."

Everyone froze.

"Jakotsu?" Sango questioned.

Inuyasha just turned, pulled me further away from the sleeping Bankotsu, and muttered, "And I do not want to know what he's dreaming about!"

I just laughed nervously, "Really guys, this is all a big misunderstanding- if you'd just let me explain."

Inuyasha frowned, then put his hands on my shoulders and looked me straight in the face, "Okay, but promise me one thing."

"Um...what?" I replied hesitantly.

"That this explanation will not involve anything about him calling you 'Jakotsu,' okay?"

I nodded in the affirmative and started to clarify things.

"He couldn't go back to his place, because it would upset him and so I offered for him to sleep here on the couch; but he was acting kind of lonely, so I offered to stay here as well. He slept on the floor, I on the couch, but I guess I rolled off and that's when Miroku and Sango got here." I said, all in one rushed breath.

"I see..." Inuyasha's eyes narrowed on Bankotsu, "If he did anything to you, I won't hesitate to..."

"Kick his ass," I finished off the sentence for him, rolling my eyes. It was always the same.

"What? I would!"

"Well, you really shouldn't be getting all jealous about this..."

"Who said I was jealous?"

"He's jealous," Sango and Miroku mumbled at the same time.

"Am not! I was just worried about him trying some weird stuff with her. You know, with Jakotsu and all..."

"I would appreciate if you left me _and_ Jakotsu out of your little fight," A calmed, yet still obviously angry voice spoke up. Bankotsu was awake.

"Sorry, look I can explain..." I was cut off before I could finish though. He had gotten up and was now face to face with Inuyasha.

"Look, what I do with my life is my business. That aside, I don't want to hear you telling me what to do when you can't even seem to treat a girl as nice as Kagome halfway decent. Some man you are, and here _I'm_ the one with _that _pink shirt," He said, almost hissing out the words towards the end.

Inuyasha just stood there silently, then finally he spoke, "Hmph. Fine, whatever…Can we move on or something? This is stupid."

Smirking slightly, Bankotsu turned and whispered to me; just loud enough the others could overhear, "I think he has a problem with me, so why don't you and I deal with this case without him?"

It took about a millisecond before Inuyasha had pried Bankotsu away from me and had him pinned against the wall; "You and Kagome are not going anywhere or doing anything without me there, got it?"

An impish grin appeared on Bankotsu's face, "Oh, so you don't mind if it's a threesome then? Well, I'm not sure if you're my type of guy but..."

I just started laughing, as Inuyasha quickly dropped Bankotsu and was now yelling at him from _behind _me.

"Hey, don't even joke about that! It's not funny!"

"Then don't _joke_ with me about matters I don't find funny, okay?"

"…Fine."

The room went entirely silent, and I felt it might be a good time to change the subject.

"So Sango, Miroku...did you find out anything new in the Naraku case?"

Miroku sighed, "We sat by the warehouses all day and I didn't see anything."

"I thought I saw a shoulder-length brown haired man leaving one building about mid-day, but before I could get a better look, _someone_ decided my ass needed a pat down." Sango replied, glaring at the obvious offender.

"What?" He said, trying to act as innocent as possible.

"Miroku, don't go there," She retorted.

_Shoulder-length brown hair,_ I thought to myself. That sounds like...

"We'll do better today, Kagome." Miroku said, breaking up my thoughts.

"And, you're working on a case with...him?" Sango questioned, wondering why Bankotsu was there.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Yes, his friend Jakotsu is missing and we are trying to figure out where he is."

"I see."

"Come on Miroku, before your perverted mind has a chance to think up anymore dirty thoughts," Sango said, practically dragging him out the door.

I could hear Miroku mumbling some protest, smiled, and called after them, "Bye guys!"

Things went silent for a few seconds before I heard a clanging, bumping sound from the desk behind me.

"So, we had those tapes right?" Inuyasha asked; he was digging in the drawer for the recorder.

"Oh, yes we did. Who did you get to talk to and tape Bankotsu?"

"All except Suikotsu and Mukotsu, but since you spoke with Suikotsu last night; the only one would be Mukotsu then."

I nodded, and prepared to play the recording. After finding a notebook to take notes in, and finding a suitable place to sit, I told Inuyasha to turn the tape on.

The sound of airy silence permeated the room for a few moments before a slight buzzing noise indicated that the tape had started. Pen ready, I sat waiting to hastily write what I would hear. There was the sound of a knock, then the door opening and a deeper voice speaking.

"Gesh...Bankotsu, you find him?"

The braided-man, who was sitting on the couch holding the hairpin in his hand, looked up as his voice on the tape spoke.

"No. I came by to see if anything that happened yesterday might give me an idea where Jakotsu is."

"Can ya help me with one thing first?"

"Um...what?"

"Kyoukotsu's stuck in the bathroom door again."

I blinked, and turned as Inuyasha fell out of his chair. He scrambled up and hit the stop button.

"Kagome, this stupid! Whether some idiot is stuck in the door or not doesn't help us at all!"

"Inuyasha, that's no way to talk about Bankotsu's friend."

"Actually, Kyoukotsu isn't the brightest guy. He keeps forgetting to turn sideways to get through the doorways."

We both paused and looked to him, not believing how bluntly he spoke.

"Uh...what?" He questioned, obviously confused by both of us staring at him. I quickly diverted my eyes.

"Oh...it's nothing- Inuyasha, turn the tape back on."

Grumbling to himself, he complied with my request and switched the machine back on. It started up immediately.

"So Bankotsu, you were with him last night and now he's just gone?"

"That's about it, Ginkotsu. He's just...missing."

"Gesh, I see. Oi Kyoukotsu, you're wedged good."

Another voice came on. "Why can't I just rip off the doorframe?"

Bankotsu replied to him, "Because the last time you did that the frame was still stuck around you, even though it was off the door itself."

I heard mumbling and looked over to see Inuyasha glaring at the recorder as it continued to play.

"I'm telling you guys I can get out."

"Kyoukotsu, maybe I should go get the crowbar."

"I can get out! Just watch!"

A loud creaking noise, then the sound of wooden beams snapping and falling was heard.

"Yesh, not again!"

"Damnit Kyoukotsu! We're gonna have to rob another convenience store if you keep this up!"

I frowned as I looked over at Inuyasha, who had just muttered something about doing a job for a bunch of criminals.

"Eheh...I was just joking when I told him that. Really, I was," Bankotsu remarked nervously.

The tape still continued- more arguing over the doorframe, more things getting broken, and more angry mutters from Inuyasha. Finally, it seemed they were going to sit down and talk.

"So, you said Jakotsu was talking to Mukotsu before you guys went to sleep?"

"Yesh, they didn't get to talk much though because Suikotsu showed up with medication problems again."

"He has been having trouble with that lately. I think he might be getting immune to his current pills."

"Gesh. I just hope that he doesn't go off the handle someday."

I paused in my writing- wait a minute, Bankotsu might have been the last to talk with Jakotsu, but Suikotsu was the last to _see_ him. _Could Suikotsu's other side have done something without Suikotsu himself knowing?_

Before my thoughts on the matter could continue any further, a phone started ringing. I looked over to the office phone, but that wasn't it. It was then that Bankotsu reached into his pocket and pulled out his cell phone.

"Hello? What? Suikotsu's what? Mukotsu, I can't hear you. In his apartment?"

I saw him cringe.

"Mukotsu, what just broke? Aww damnit. I'm coming, try to keep him there."

After hitting the 'end' button, he turned to us.

"I hate to run like this, but Mukotsu is having some problems with Suikotsu and if I don't go now- who knows what he'll end up destroying."

"That's all right, but we do need to speak with Mukotsu. Do you mind if we go with you?"

"Errr, I'm not sure if that's safe. Suikotsu's a little..."

"Keh, I'll handle him if he causes either of us any trouble," Inuyasha remarked standing.

Bankotsu just shrugged, "Fine, if you insist. I'll let him rip your head off in place of mine."

The two glared at each other for a few more seconds, as if sizing the other up, before turning back towards me.

"Kagome, we're going," Inuyasha stated, daring Bankotsu to try and stop us.

"Okay, but I'm warning you- this isn't going to be a pretty sight."

----------------------------------------

We headed off to the Ushitora area of town, noting that the buildings seemed to get more and more dilapidated as we went.

"This place looks like a dump," Inuyasha commented.

"This isn't anything; we haven't gotten inside Suikotsu's apartment yet," Bankotsu replied, as he pointed out the apartment building in question.

We walked up the old, tattered stairs to the sixth floor. As we neared the door, we could already hear the sound of someone yelling in Japanese.

"Great, he's in one of those moods," Bankotsu sighed, running a hand through his bangs.

He went to knock on the door, when a loud crash from inside was heard; a short figure rushed out, slamming the door behind him as something collided into the closed door.

"Mukotsu, what's going on in there?"

"Oh, Bankotsu, it's you. Suikotsu's gone off the handle, completely nuts. I can't get any of the medications he has to work. I have a sedative with me, but I can't get near him to inject it into him."

"I wonder what set him off this time," He pondered aloud.

"The store was out of Sunkist."

"That stupid orange drink? Why would you want to drink that shit?" Inuyasha stated bluntly.

Bankotsu shrugged, "Beats me, but for some reason Suikotsu loves the stuff. Depriving him of it is like...depriving a fish from water."

"Bankotsu, you think you could hold him still long enough for me to get the sedative into him?"

"And what will you do then? I thought you said none of the other medications work."

"I have a stronger one that should, but with him this upset, I can't get near him or convince him to take it."

"Okay Mukotsu, you wait out here with these people, I'm going in." He said; a determined look on his face as he shoved his sleeves up.

He opened the door and shut it quickly behind him. Then, the muffled sounds of Suikotsu's Japanese shouts intermingled with Bankotsu yelling at him in return and a few more crashes. It went silent, too silent, until a deep rumbling sound was heard, and I felt Inuyasha jerk me away from the doorway.

"Oh my..." The door had been smashed down and was now laying shattered on the hallway floor. Bankotsu was pinned down against it, and Suikotsu looking extremely crazed, was on top of him holding a knife to his throat.

--------------------------------------------

Preview for Chapter 4: If something isn't done soon, it looks like another Kotsu member might be in some serious trouble. But what has caused Suikotsu to be like this, and is it perhaps, a lead in the case?


	4. Chapter 4

Author's Notes: This chapter was revised on January 24, 2006.

--------------------------------------------

**-June 6th-**

**Entry at 12:49PM**

I looked at the sight before me. The door itself was shattered into wooden shards, Bankotsu was lying with his back against what remained and Suikotsu was positioned on top of him like a lion with its prey. The knife was beginning to be pressed slowly into skin of Bankotsu's neck, causing a trail of blood to trickle down.

"Stand back Kagome," Inuyasha said pushing me further away.

I just stared in shock- we had to do something. Suikotsu looked mad, and if we didn't act quickly, who knew what he might do to Bankotsu.

"Keh, it looks like I'll have to handle this."

Inuyasha started walking over to the two lying against the fallen door, when Bankotsu's sharp voice yelled out.

"Don't get any closer, I've almost got him!"

"Almost got him? He has a knife at your throat!"

"Inuyasha he's known him longer, just trust him okay?" I tried to reason with him, adding any more tension to this scenario wasn't the best idea.

"Fine, but if he gets killed it's not my fault for not stepping in then," Inuyasha spat as he returned to my side.

Bankotsu continued staring intently at the figure poised above him, his eyebrows furrowed in thought. Then, in a movement so quick I couldn't make it out, Bankotsu had wrenched the knife from Suikotsu's hands, pinned him in a headlock and was motioning to Mukotsu to get the sedative.

I breathed a sigh of relief. That was just a little too close, but I guess the leader of the Kotsu gang should be able to handle such a situation. The shorter man made his way quickly over and administered the sedative, causing the once struggling figure to fall limp in Bankotsu's arms.

"Mukotsu, you got anything for when he comes to?" Bankotsu said, starting to drag the body into the room and wiping what little blood remained on his neck away.

He nodded in reply, "I've got one I can mix up fairly fast, I would've had more but whoever trashed my place the night before last took the one elixir I wanted to use."

"Someone trashed your place?"

"Sure did. Took a couple elixirs and left it a wreck."

Obviously thinking the same as I about the coincidence of that happening the same night Jakotsu went missing, Bankotsu paused and replied, "We need to talk about that once we get Suikotsu fixed up, you got that?"

"Okay."

Bankotsu turned in our direction, "Feel free to come on in while we take care of Suikotsu, just be careful where you step, the idiot trashed his place again."

I nodded and followed him into the apartment, pausing upon seeing the damage. The room looked like it had been destroyed by a tornado, a hurricane, or some other major natural disaster. Shelves had been overturned, furniture displaced, and the floor covered by a layer of junk.

"Just push it onto the floor," He muttered to Mukotsu in regards to the debris filled couch. The shorter nodded, and did as told; then Suikotsu was laid upon the disheveled sofa. Mukotsu subsequently made his way into the kitchen to mix up the new medicine. It was then I noticed that Inuyasha was still standing outside the doorway, arms crossed and glaring into the room. I made my way over to him.

"What's your problem?"

"Let's just ask the questions we need to ask and go. I'm sick of wasting time on these people."

"Now Inuyasha, just because you met them last week on different terms doesn't mean that we should give them secondary treatment now that they are in trouble. I mean, what if they were the detectives and we were the gang members- and suddenly, I went missing. Wouldn't you ask them for help?"

"No. I would take care of it myself."

I sighed; this wasn't getting anywhere, "What if you couldn't take care of it yourself?"

"Keh, this is stupid Kagome."

I frowned, and yelled into his face, "Bankotsu's looking for someone he cares deeply about Inuyasha, and if you won't cooperate and help me find Jakotsu- then we will take care of the case _without _you!"

He blinked a couple of times, and acted like he was just about to fight back when Bankotsu appeared in the doorway.

"Are you giving Kagome a hard time again? She really should get a better partner; apparently you just aren't man enough for her."

Before Bankotsu could finish, Inuyasha had swung a fist at him, but it was easily dodged.

"Oh, did I hit a soft-spot tough boy?"

"Shut up, ya fairy!"

Punches flew, and punches were blocked. I tried to keep my distance for fear they would forget my presence and hit me in the crossfire; meanwhile, I attempted to get them to stop.

"Come on you two, this isn't the time to be fighting like three-year olds!"

"Kagome, I don't care if you like this bastard, but I'm not letting him lay a hand on you!"

"Oh, so now you're getting defensive of her. Just had to threaten your position eh?"

"Shut up!"

Inuyasha's fist collided with Bankotsu's side, and he doubled over.

"Keh, that'll show ya!"

Bankotsu looked up and smirked- planting a punch square into Inuyasha's jaw.

"And that will show you to not let your guard down."

I started to go towards him, but Inuyasha shook his head 'no' and gestured for me to stay back. He then wiped off the trail of blood that ran down his face, and made one last attempt to get in the last hit. But, the punch was stopped- by a now bandaged and calmed Suikotsu.

"Calm down you two, you are in the presence of a lady. You shouldn't be upsetting her," He said, easily holding back Inuyasha's attack.

"Suikotsu, don't interrupt our fight," Bankotsu said, a hand holding his side.

"I'd like to see either of you continue this without bleeding all over the floor. Come on, call it a truce for now."

"Fine…" He replied, angrily glancing away.

Inuyasha glared for a moment, then muttered his reply, "Keh."

Mukotsu crossed his arms upon seeing us enter. "Great, I just get Suikotsu fixed and now you two had to go and bang each other up. I suppose I've got some gauze left…"

As we waded through the sea of odds and ends littering the floor, Inuyasha stepped down on something, causing it to start singing. He paused and lifted the item in question off the floor.

"What the...who in the hell would want a singing banana?"

Bankotsu suspiciously glared at Suikotsu, "Hey, that's Jakotsu's! Why do you have it here?"

"I don't remember ever seeing that until now actually," The brown-haired man said scratching his head.

A quick motion barely registered in my eyes before I realized that Bankotsu had pinned Suikotsu to the wall. "If you've laid one hand on him, I swear I'll rip your heart out right now. I don't want any bullshit; tell me why you have that!"

The room went silent as we waited for the reply.

"Tell me damnit!"

"I told you, I don't know how I got it. I've never seen it 'til now."

"Don't you dare lie to me, Suikotsu."

I looked to the discarded item that had caused the fuss in the first place, noticing that around the banana there was a ribbon tied to something else that was buried on the floor.

"What's this…" I muttered to myself as I dislodged the other object.

"A toy lion?" Inuyasha questioned.

Seemingly forgetting the angry braided-man pinning him against the wall, Suikotsu yelled out, "Hey! Leave Leo alone!"

"Leo?" The room chorused in disbelief.

"It was a gift from my mother when I was little," We continued to look at him with narrowed eyes. "Hey don't look at me like I'm a wimp, I was close to my mother!"

Bankotsu released his grip slightly, and turned to get a better look at the plush feline.

"There's a note," I said upon discovering it, "It reads: _Dear Suikotsu, I left the banana Bankotsu got me for Christmas with Leo so he wouldn't be lonely. I hope you get your medicine fixed soon- Jakotsu_." As I finished, I heard a sigh from nearby.

"He would do something like that. Always trying to perk everyone else up; that's Jakotsu for you. Sorry about that, Suikotsu…"

I turned to see that Bankotsu had released his intended prey and was dragging a hand down his face.

"Bankotsu, are you going to be…" Suikotsu's concern was cut short as the dark-haired man's fist impacted the wall then dropped loosely to his side.

"Damnit. Where are you, Jakotsu?" He muttered, uncaring of the blood pouring out of the gashes in his knuckles.

Mukotsu flung his hands in the air, "Okay, I'm not the emergency room here people- I only have so much gauze, bandages and medicine for all of you intent on bleeding yourselves to death."

"Sorry Mukotsu, I'm just…"

"I know, you're upset and that's expected, but I doubt Jakotsu wants to come home to find you in a wheelchair from self-inflicted injuries."

He just smiled in reply, and then sighed as he surveyed the room. "Sheesh Suikotsu, you trashed this worse than last time."

"But the store was out of Sunkist, Bankotsu. They're never out!"

"Then drink orange juice instead of losing your temper and causing hundreds worth of damage to your apartment"

"Orange juice doesn't have that same artificial, plastic-y, taste that I like."

"You are one strange guy."

"Yes, we are...I mean, I am."

Bankotsu shook his head and sat down on the sofa, Mukotsu followed, "I can fix that hand up some while I tell you about what some punks did to my place."

"That's right, what happened? You said they took some elixirs."

"Well, as I said, it was the night before last, so that makes it…hmmm, the earlier hours of the fifth."

I listened intently, and sat down on the other sofa next to Inuyasha; that was the night Jakotsu disappeared and maybe there was a connection.

"So, what happened?"

"Jakotsu had dropped by for a little while around midnight, just to talk. Then Suikotsu came by with some medicine issues, so I told him I'd mix up something for him that night. I was just started in on it when Renkotsu dropped by. He was just waiting there 'til he was supposed to meet with Jakotsu. At least that what's he told me; seemed strange that he was meeting with Jakotsu all of a sudden like that though. Anyway, I told him that I needed to run to the local 24-hour drugstore to get something for Suikotsu's medicine, and he said he needed to be leaving himself anyway. So he left, and I left. And when I came back- my place was wrecked. Lots of things broken and well…um…" He paused and looked hesitantly over at Inuyasha and I.

Bankotsu nodded, "It's okay, they won't throw their clients in jail…at least I would hope not," He glared a bit to assure his point.

I laughed nervously, "It would depend on what you are confessing to whether we can ignore it or not."

"Go on, Mukotsu."

"If you say so Bankotsu. So whoever it was took only the deadliest ones I had and what I was mixing for Suikotsu."

"The deadly ones? All of them?"

"Yea, all of them."

"Shit…" Bankotsu said running a hand through his bangs, "I just hope whoever stole those isn't involved with Jakotsu. Those don't have any antidotes, do they?"

"If it's the elixirs I was able to determine were missing…no, there isn't one."

"Damnit…"

Mukotsu turned to us, "So pretty lady, you think there's a connection?"

I blinked, _pretty lady?_ "Err…it could be possible. About what time was that?"

"About two in the morning, I believe."

"Hmm…and Jakotsu went missing about three. It is a possibility, but it's not definite yet."

"And if it's not definite, you shouldn't worry about it, Bankotsu," Suikotsu said sitting beside him.

"Until I know Jakotsu is alive and safe, I can't help but worry.

I was about to say something as well, when I noticed Mukotsu sideling up next to me.

"I'm sure this lovely lady will not let you down Bankotsu, I bet she can find him for you, He turned towards me, "And don't you worry, unlike Bankotsu, I'm not taken…yet."

"Eheh…" I quickly scooted away from him, and ended up falling into Inuyasha's lap.

He glared at the short man, "Hey, leave Kagome alone!"

Mukotsu sighed, "Oh, I should have known that she was taken. You're such a lucky man to have such a beautiful girl at your side.

Inuyasha twitched, and turned away. I could've sworn he was blushing…and I know I was.

Luckily, Mukotsu has turned his attention back to Bankotsu, and was now sitting in front of him on what appeared to be an upturned trashcan.

"So why exactly did Jakotsu leave the other night from your place?

"He said he was meeting with Renkotsu for some reason."

"So Renkotsu wasn't lying to me about that. You know, I still find that strange. Jakotsu's never gotten along that well with him. Are you sure that you didn't you do something to upset him, or get a little rough with him?"

"Mukotsu, I would never do that!"

"Yeah, Bankotsu is not the type to bitch-slap people."

At that Bankotsu, just frowned at Suikotsu "You two aren't helping any. Suikotsu, why don't you start cleaning up."

"And you aren't helping?"

"I'm going to be the one paying for your door."

"Oh right…" He said as he started picking up things and trying to tilt shelves back upright. Meanwhile, Mukotsu had turned back in my direction.

"So what clues have you found so far?"

"Just a shred of white cloth and a gold ring."

At the words '_gold ring'_ Suikotsu froze, and ran over, and dragged me into the kitchen with him.

"Suikotsu, what in the…"

"The ring, do you have it with you?"

"Um…no. Why? Do you know what it is?"

"I need you to give that ring to me."

"Excuse me?"

"I need that ring before Bankotsu knows more about it."

I narrowed my eyes, he was clearly hiding something, "And what is it that he shouldn't know about it?"

"I can't tell you, just let me have it."

"It's a piece of evidence; I have to keep it until this case is closed."

"Okay, fine…just don't let Bankotsu get a good look at it or anything. It'll upset him."

"Upset him? Why?"

"I can't say why either, but it has to do with Jakotsu, so it'll upset him."

_It has to do with Jakotsu, but Bankotsu said he didn't wear a ring. What is Suikotsu hiding from me?_ I thought to myself, until a voice in the doorway snapped me out of my concentration.

"Kagome, what's this about?" Inuyasha said, glaring at Suikotsu.

"He thinks something about that ring might upset Bankotsu."

"Why?"

"Something to do with Jakotsu."

"And he's not talking, then I'll make him talk," Inuyasha cracked his knuckles and approached the brown-haired man.

"I'm sorry, but I swore to Jakotsu I wouldn't tell Bankotsu about it."

A punch stopped mid-air right before impacting on Suikotsu. "You promised Jakotsu something?"

"Inuyasha let him talk."

"I can't say much, I wouldn't want to break that promise to Jakotsu. You understand right?"

I nodded, "All right, we'll try to not bring it up around Bankotsu, but if we find out it's connected to another clue, we might have to make you tell us more about it."

"I understand, sorry about this," He said bowing slightly and retreating into the other room.

"He's hiding something, Kagome," Inuyasha muttered as he left.

"I know, but what?"

"I'm not sure. And since he does have that other personality, it's possible even he doesn't know."

"Watch where you're swinging that shelf you idiot!" Bankotsu's voice echoed from the other room.

"We should go back in before they get the wrong idea."

"Keh," He muttered and followed me back into the living room.

Suikotsu had returned to trying to fix the apartment up and currently was picking up odds and ends off the floor.

"Well, unless you can think of anything else, Mukotsu, we need to be getting back to the office to go over some more evidence," I said headed for the door.

"Nothing else that comes to mind at the moment, Missy."

Bankotsu stood to come with us, when Suikotsu stopped him, "Wait, just a second. Let me find those things you let me borrow before you go."

"Suikotsu, with your apartment looking like this- that could take years."

"But I think there was something Jakotsu left for you in that CD case; you might want that."

Bankotsu paused, and then joined Suikotsu in his search through the junk.

"What did he leave in there?"

"I'm not sure, but when he was over here that afternoon, I saw him stick something in the case once I told him it was your CD. He said it was important and that I should return the CD to you the next time I saw you."

"I see."

The two continued rummaging through the mass of things blanketing the floor, while Inuyasha stood in the doorway, sulking. I mouthed to him, "Just be patient, we're leaving soon."

About then, Suikotsu held up a small black clip, "Oh, here's your porn clip back."

Inuyasha blinked, then turned slightly green muttering, "I don't want to know about him and his porn clip..."

Bankotsu, on the other hand, sighed and pried it from his hands, "I've told you a thousand times, it's a parn clip. P-A-R-N. Not porn!"

Mukotsu just laughed, "A clip eh? Is that some sex toy or..."

Bankotsu ran a hand down his face, "It's for my gun!"

I turned at the sound of coughing next to me to see that Inuyasha looked like he was about to throw-up.

"Your gun? Is that what you guys call it these days?"

"Mukotsu…." He warned, "I am not in the mood for this."

"Here it is!" Suikotsu said holding up a CD case triumphantly.

Inuyasha glanced at it, and hmmphed, "What kind of stupid band name is _NG-Sandrock_?"

The owner of it glared in return, "Hey, it's mine and Jakotsu's favorite band. Back off."

He quickly opened the case, and pulled out a piece of paper tucked inside. Slowly, he began to read it aloud.

"_Bankotsu- I got a surprise for you. The band's having a concert in three weeks here in town, and I was able to steal some front row tickets for us. I know you've wanted to see them perform live, so I made sure to get front row. I hope you like it. Love- Jakotsu_"

By the time he finished it, I could tell he was taking all his inner strength to keep himself from crying in front of everyone. I was just about to go over to comfort him, when I saw that Suikotsu and Mukotsu had beaten me to it.

"I'm sorry Bankotsu, if I'd known that it…"

"Don't blame yourself. You didn't know."

Suikotsu knelt down beside him, and swung an arm around his shoulders. "Come on now, we'll find him. I'm sure we can find him."

"Everything will be fine, we'll find Jakotsu for ya and things will go back to the way it always was. You just have to stay strong 'til then," Mukotsu added

He forced a weak smile in return, "Thanks guys, I'll try."

"Now as much as I'd like to have you stay around here and help me pick up things, it seems like your two detectives need to be going," Suikotsu said, noting us waiting by the doorframe.

"I guess I'd best go then," He stood and walked over to us, then paused, "I'll send the money for the door soon, don't get out of control anymore if you can help it; okay Suikotsu?"

"I'll try to keep him in check."

"Good."

That said we headed out the doorway and down to the car.

It was a quiet drive back to the office, but I could see that Bankotsu was re-reading the note over and over out of the corner of my eye. I was about to comment, when Inuyasha spoke up.

"Hey Bankotsu, you think Suikotsu might have done something to Jakotsu when he wasn't himself?"

"Inuyasha…" I said threateningly.

"What? Okay, so I'm not trying to accuse him; I'm just saying it's a possibility."

"He never has done anything before, but…" Bankotsu paused, "You saw how he got with me today- with the knife and all. He's not been himself lately with all these medication problems. Even his other self hasn't been typical."

"So you're saying that…"

"Kagome, it is a possibility; but deep down, Suikotsu wouldn't do something like that, so I honestly don't think it was him," Bankotsu stated.

I nodded, I knew that I still had to keep it in mind as a lead though; especially with the way he acted about that gold ring.

We arrived at the office, and had all intentions of returning to the tapes, but Miroku and Sango had returned.

"Kagome, you'll never believe it!" Sango said tugging at my sleeve.

"What? Did you find something?"

"We both saw someone coming out of a warehouse with a small dagger."

"A dagger? What did they look like?"

While our conversation progressed, I saw that Inuyasha had made his way to _my_ desk chair and that Bankotsu was looking out the window.

"Well," Miroku started, "She was fairly tall, gorgeous figure. Her hips and her chest were absolutely divine. I think she's about a C-cup and in that red oriental dress, with that slit up the leg, I could…"

He halted when Sango's hand impacted with the back of his head, "She wants a description not a playboy model's measurements."

"Eheh…" I laughed nervously. If there was one thing I'd learned, it was that you didn't come between those two when Sango was annoyed with him.

"Okay Kagome, here's the _proper_ description: she was perhaps about my height, dark black hair pulled up with what appeared to be a small hair ornament of sorts, her eyes appeared to be a deep red and…"

"Did she look like that?" Bankotsu said pointing out the window.

In a rush, the four of us detectives had made our way over.

"That's her all right," Miroku confirmed.

The female in question was getting out of a black car parked down on the street, but the car had two other passengers. "Wait a minute. Inuyasha, isn't that…"

"Great- my brother's new girlfriend is working for a psychopath. Just what my family life needed," He sighed realizing whom the tall-white-haired figure I pointed to was.

"That's your brother?" Bankotsu questioned.

"That's my _half_-brother, the kid he adopted and our current suspect," He replied, pointing to the three people.

"Do you think that Sesshoumaru really is working against us?" I asked.

"I'm not sure, but it looks like they are coming up here to talk to us, so I guess we'll know soon enough."

-------------------------------------------

Preview for Chapter 5: It seems Miroku and Sango have finally gotten a lead on the Naraku case, but the person they suspect seems to be connected with Sesshoumaru already. Will Sesshoumaru be willing to help them out, or has he switched sides?


	5. Chapter 5

Author's Notes: This chapter was revised on January 24, 2006.

--------------------------------------------

**-June 6th-**

**Entry at 5:19PM**

We all waited in silence as the sound of footsteps made their way up the stairs to the office. I could make out three distinct voices speaking

"Are you certain we can trust them?" The older female voice spoke.

"If we want the current information, this is where we must turn," said the distinctly calm and serious voice of Inuyasha's elder half-brother in reply.

I could hear the little girl speak next, "Sesshoumaru, I'm hungry. Can I have some candy or something?"

"Here."

"Yay!"

"Sesshoumaru, won't that make her hyper?"

"We'll manage"

The footsteps came to a halt, and a light knock sounded on the door. I looked around, to see if anyone else intended on answering it, but Inuyasha had already stormed over to the door.

"Sesshoumaru, what in the hel---"

"Inuyasha!"

Before he could finish his statement, the young girl had launched herself at him, and was now sitting on top of a very disgruntled Inuyasha.

"I've missed you Inuyasha! I wanted to show you a picture I drew of you yesterday night, but Sesshoumaru said you were sulking in your room because your detective agency is bad and you never have any good cases and that you probably spent the day rummaging through a trash can. So I drew a pretty picture of you with a happy sunshine and a happy face!" The girl said producing a tattered and wrinkled piece of paper from her dress pocket and shoving it into Inuyasha's face.

"Wonderful. Now get off me, kid."

"But Inuyasha!" She pouted.

"Rin," Sesshoumaru stated simply causing the girl to get off and scramble up to his side.

I started walking over towards my angry partner, when I noticed Miroku and Sango nodding and pointing towards the woman next to Sesshoumaru. Pausing, I looked at her, and realized that she definitely matched the description they had given to me a few minutes before.

"Inuyasha, we need to talk."

He jumped up and glared at his elder brother, "What the hell do you want? And why do you have some bitch that works for Naraku with you?"

"Hey asshole, stop jumping to conclusions- it's no wonder your agency's a piece of shit if you handle situations like this," The woman said stepping forward almost protectively in front of Sesshoumaru.

"At least I haven't stooped to helping to the enemy!"

"Like hell we're helping Naraku!"

"They saw you there, so you can't deny it," Inuyasha noted, gesturing back to Miroku and Sango.

"Well if you gave us a damn chance to explain."

"What the hell should we do that for?"

"Kagura. Calm down." Sesshoumaru said grabbing onto her arm and pulling her a slight bit away from Inuyasha.

"And we thought Inuyasha's language was something," I could hear Sango commenting to Miroku.

"Inuyasha, we are just here to retrieve your case file from the dealings with the Kotsu gang you had last week."

I decided this might be a good time to step in before Inuyasha got more upset, "Case files? What would you need those for?"

"The police said your agency had the most up-to-date files on them." He replied, producing a police summary of their information on the gang, pointing to the bottom line, which read, '_Gang's dealings with Naraku group and the Hakushin theft- Files still being processed._'

"So you came to ask us. Well why don't you ask Naraku himself, since you're so friendly with his associate?" Inuyasha remarked crossing his arms and standing beside me.

"If I was friends with that guy, do you think I'd do this?" The woman said pulling out a hand-held tape recorder, and pressing play. I heard voices come over the crackling tape.

"I told you, I need that heirloom now! It's invaluable."

"Sir, but who can we get to deal with that gang again? The leader seems adamantly against dealing with you any further," I heard the woman's voice on the tape ask.

"We will make them led us right to it. I don't care if I have to kill off all six of the others, as long as it'll make that leader talk."

The tape was stopped with a flick of a finger, and I snapped my head around to locate Bankotsu, knowing he was still in the room. Glaring from his place by the window, he obviously was beginning to connect the same thing I was- Jakotsu was missing, and Naraku had just threatened to kill off the other gang members if Bankotsu wouldn't talk. Right now, things weren't looking good for Jakotsu at all.

"So, do you believe me now?" She asked, causing me to turn back towards her.

"I'm still unsure as to the details, but if explained to us, I'm sure we can supply those files you need and perhaps…" I glanced back at Bankotsu, "If you help us with our newest case, we might be able to help you get some more exclusive inside information on that heist."

She smiled then, and offered a hand, "The name's Kagura, I work for Sesshoumaru here as an undercover agent and personal assistant."

The young girl walked up alongside Kagura, and smiled too, "I'm Rin. I stay with Sesshoumaru and Inuyasha when I'm not at the office. But sometimes Sesshoumaru makes me go home because him and Kagura have 'business to attend to that isn't appropriate for children.'"

Miroku grinned, "Is that what they are calling that now?"

Sesshoumaru frowned slightly, "And I assume you would allow her to sit in on murder and rape cases then?"

Miroku shrunk back behind Sango then, "Oh...eheh..."

"Pervert," Sango muttered.

"So, about the files?" Kagura inquired.

"Oh, they're in my desk. But first, aside from Naraku wanting to get back at the leader for some reason, what do you need the files for? It seems pretty self explanatory to me- it's just for some item they have."

"Two of the members from the gang are directly involved with him right now," Sesshoumaru stated simply.

I blinked, "They are?"

Kagura nodded, "One I never did catch the name of, but Naraku did mention to me one named Jakotsu."

"Jakotsu?" I heard the shocked voice of Bankotsu stammer out seconds before he was right in Kagura's face.

"Tell me where the hell Naraku is this instant, and what he did to Jakotsu!"

She stepped back, a puzzled look upon her face, "What's with your associate?"

Then I realized it would probably be best to explain that the leader of the group they wanted information on was the one currently in Kagura's face.

"Well you see that newest case I was talking about- is with him. This is Bankotsu, leader of the Kotsu gang. He contacted us on the fifth when Jakotsu turned up missing."

He stepped back a little then as Kagura examined him, "Oh, so you're the one that Naraku's other little pawn has had the pleasure of dealing with these last weeks."

"Where is Jakotsu?" He demanded; eyes in a deadly glare.

"Now calm down, I'll explain in a moment."

I heard the distinct creaking noise that my desk chair always makes when you sit in it, and turned to find Inuyasha leaning back with his feet on the desk.

"Great. Case solved, Jakotsu's somewhere with Naraku, so all we have to do is go in, kick Naraku's ass, get Jakotsu out of there and we can go back to our normal lives."

"Wait a minute, Inuyasha. Kagura, didn't you say there was another gang member involved?"

"From all I can tell there was. I never saw him or heard him talk though, but I'm sure his voice is somewhere on one of these tapes I recovered from that night. I've got that whole damn warehouse rigged up," She said producing several tapes from her purse.

Sesshoumaru walked up beside her then, and raised an eyebrow, "This might take some time."

"But I know what's on a few tapes already, there's only the one from the main room and a side room we haven't gone over yet."

"Knowing the circumstances that most likely occur when Naraku interrogates people, Rin should be sent out in the hall."

"Oh, of course Sesshoumaru. Rin, you brought your crayons and a notebook didn't you?" Kagura asked bending down to the child's level.

"Yes, I brought lots of pretty colors to draw with," She replied grinning.

"Good girl. Sesshoumaru, we should probably send someone out with her."

"Anyone but that letch then."

"What?" Miroku asked blinking.

Sango sighed, "I'll watch the little girl. She seems close to the age of my little brother, so I can handle her."

Sesshoumaru nodded his consent, and gestured to Rin that she was to go with Sango.

Rin smiled, "I'll make sure to draw a pretty picture of Sesshoumaru and Miss Kagura hard at work for you while you are doing 'business.'"

Kagura patted her on the head, "Sure kid. Draw what you want."

The little girl scurried out the door, her blue dress swishing behind her, as Sango followed. Miroku started to follow as well, but Sesshoumaru stopped him with a glare.

"You weren't asked."

"Eheh…I was going to go and uh…"

"Watch Sango, right?" Inuyasha said rolling his eyes.

"Yeah! That's it I was going to go and watch Sango…err…wait a minute…"

All but Sesshoumaru laughed then at Miroku's misfortune, but I did notice that he indeed went on out into the hallway.

Bankotsu was still on edge as to it all, obviously wanting information about Jakotsu and his whereabouts right this instant.

I placed a hand on his shoulder, "We'll know soon, sorry detective work goes so slow."

He crossed his arms, and hastily sat down on the couch. Kagura was still looking at a few of the tapes, when she stuck one in.

"This should have something with either Jakotsu or the other member on it; it's from early on the morning of the fifth."

After a few more crackling noises, the tape started up immediately.

"Tell me where it is!" The stern voice of what I had concluded from before was Naraku yelled.

"I told you, I don't know. He never told me anything about that."

Bankotsu froze then, his lips mouthing out the name of the one who had just spoken on the tape, "Jakotsu…"

"He has too, you liar!" A hit was heard, and what I assumed was Jakotsu hitting the floor. I cringed, as the tape continued.

"I don't know anything about it. Damnit, I swear I don't," Jakotsu's voice retaliated.

"Come on boy, you're his little slut aren't you! So tell me you damn fag!"

I looked to see Bankotsu flinching, and then the sound of another hit and another fall.

"Bankotsu never told me anything about anything like that," He said defiantly. It seemed that no matter how much Naraku tried to force it from him, Jakotsu was remaining strong.

Either way, Bankotsu looked like he was on the verge of crying or going and ripping Naraku's head off.

Kagura stopped the tape then, and sighed, "I think that's enough of that. Shit Naraku's a screwed up bastard- can't ever seem to get what he wants without abusing and killing people."

"Killing…people?" Bankotsu dropped the hairpin then as his mind drifted to darker thoughts. It rolled a bit before stopping and he got up to retrieve it.

"If they don't talk he'll…" Kagura paused then and smiled a bit as Bankotsu bent over to pick up the hairpin, "Jakotsu's right, you do have a nice body."

He blinked, "You talked to Jakotsu?"

"Have been quite a bit lately. He's fine, a little bruised and shaken, but- he's alive if that's what you are worried about."

"Thank goodness!" He said hugging a surprised Kagura.

"Watch it there buddy, I wouldn't want to tell Jakotsu that you were hitting on me."

"So he is alive and safe?" I asked as shocked as the rest of our agency was at the moment.

She nodded, "Safe as one can be in Naraku's midst. Don't worry, I'm keeping an eye out for him," A frown crossed her face as she realized Bankotsu was still hugging her, "Okay, I know you are happy, but this is getting annoying."

He pulled back, and nervously scratched the back of his head, "Sorry, I've just been so worried about Jakotsu lately and now I at least know he's alive. I guess I got a little emotional."

"It's okay- I figured you'd be worried from the way Jakotsu talked about you. But, we'd better crack this case smoothly soon, or I can't guarantee he'll stay that way."

Bankotsu nodded, "Give me a few hours and me and the guys can go in and take care of getting Jakotsu out of there."

"Err…I wouldn't try that if I were you. Naraku knows you're really close to Jakotsu, and he's going to use that entirely to his advantage. Trying anything might endanger his life even more so."

"But…" He stopped as his cell phone started ringing. He answered it quickly, "Hello? Mukotsu, what in the…? He got shot? How? Naraku shot Renkotsu? What the hell for? He was trying to what? Jakotsu? Shit! Not now, damnit!"

I walked over and placed a hand on his shoulder, "Bankotsu, what happened?"

"Just a second Mukotsu," He covered the phone, and looked up with apprehension towards us; "Renkotsu had found out about where Jakotsu was and tried to get him out. Renkotsu's okay, just a bullet wound but he heard gunshots from inside the warehouse as he was leaving. From the area he said he thought Jakotsu was at."

"Oh no…" I managed to stammer out. Things had gone from good to really bad in a matter of seconds.

Kagura just frowned, "I'll look for Jakotsu tomorrow, I promise. Even if I risk my cover, I'll try to find him."

Bankotsu bit his lip and looked to the recovered hairpin, "Please Jakotsu, hang in there."

------------------------------------------

Preview for Chapter 6: Jakotsu is being held by Naraku in an attempt to get Bankotsu to talk, but is he still alive or not? And will Sesshoumaru and Kagura be able to help them find out for sure?


	6. Chapter 6

Author's Notes: This chapter was revised on January 24, 2006.

--------------------------------------------

**-June 6th-**

**Entry at 6:35PM**

Bankotsu sighed and put the phone back to his ear. "Hey, Mukotsu are the other guys there? All but Suikotsu? Where is he at? You don't know?" Bankotsu frowned, "You haven't seen him since this afternoon? Okay, I'm calling over there now and I'll call you once I know something. Bye."

He looked to me and forced a smile, "I'm hoping he's home."

"I hope so too," I replied, praying that what I suspected wasn't right.

Dialing quickly, he awaited a reply. Apparently, someone answered. "Hello? Suikotsu? Damnit, don't start that Japanese with me now. Calm down and listen to me. Jakotsu's in trouble, Naraku's trying to use him to get information out of me. Something about the stuff we stole from old Hakushin. Apparently we got away with something Naraku really wants, and he's going use Jakotsu to get it. Yeah, yeah, 'Temee, omae o korosu' indeed. No, the detectives think that'll just cause trouble if we go in after him. What? You're coming over here? Yes, I'm at the office. Okay, if you really want to. Um sure, Suikotsu. Bye."

I looked at him questioningly, but he answered before I could talk.

"Suikotsu thinks he's been at home all day- at least both his sides say so."

"Both…sides?" Kagura questioned.

"He's got multiple personalities. Lucky for us- he's only got two."

"And why doesn't he take something for it?"

"Well, Mukotsu does what he can- the best usually being putting one side 'to sleep' and letting the other dominate. Though, if we don't have the cash for one ingredient the best we can do is suppress the other persona so he won't get too destructive. That's the medicine he's on now- almost entirely calm, but if you upset him, the other side might come out."

"So is he coming here?" I asked trying to figure out what was going on.

Bankotsu nodded, "I think he wants to go kill Naraku, but I talked him into coming here instead."

"He's probably worried about you, considering the circumstances."

He frowned, "I want to go kill that bastard too, but if it endangers Jakotsu… Well, I just can't risk it," He added hanging his head.

"Let me try something," Kagura said pulling out a cell phone and dialing. "Hmm, he must be there now. He's not answering, but I'll leave a message," She paused, then spoke, "Hey, its Kagura. When you aren't serving Mr. Asshole, check on Jakotsu and give me a call."

Bankotsu's eyes narrowed, "Who are you talking to?"

She hit the end button, and replied, "Oh the guy you dealt with last week on Naraku's behalf. He's there today, so he can check on Jakotsu for us."

"Oh. Thanks," He said, forcing a weak smile.

"It's the least I can do. Now, let's sift through these tapes and see if we can decipher the other member involved."

"Let me call Mukotsu back first," Bankotsu said about to dial his cell phone, when I stopped him.

"I have some things I'd like to ask Mukotsu as well, so is it okay if we use the office speaker phone?"

"Why do we have to use to the speaker phone?" Bankotsu questioned.

Inuyasha grumbled, "Keh, so I can hear it. Kagome's not the only detective here."

"Seems that way to me." Sesshoumaru said calmly; dodging as Inuyasha threw a pen at him.

"Will you stay out of this!"

I walked over to the desk phone and had Bankotsu dial it. It rang a few times before Mukotsu picked it up.

"Hey Mukotsu."

"Ah, Bankotsu, did you find Suikotsu?"

"He was at home, but he's coming over to the office now."

"Good. I didn't want him to try something stupid like taking Naraku on by himself."

"Yeah, me either. Oh and Kagome said she had something to ask you, so I'll put her on the line."

"All right."

"Okay, Mukotsu?" I started tentatively.

"Well hello lovely lady, what is it you need to ask?"

_Lovely lady…errr_

Composing myself, I cleared my throat and continued, "Bankotsu was telling us that lately you've been using medicine that just suppresses Suikotsu's personalities, and I was wondering if when you suppress them like that, is it possible for the person to forcefully make the other side sleep?"

"Would depend on how powerful that personality was over the other one. But yes, I suppose it would be possible."

"And if that was the case, could that person do something while 'not themselves' and not realize it?"

"If you're speaking of Suikotsu- it's never happened before. Even when his calm side sleeps, he still will remember what he did in his angry side…but, with all the medication I've been trying lately it is possible he had some unforeseen reaction to one of them."

"Okay. Thank you, Mukotsu."

"Anytime sweetheart."

I cringed, _sweetheart!_ Meanwhile, Bankotsu walked back over to the speaker.

"Neh, Mukotsu. It's me again. So how's Renkotsu?"

"Ah, he's fine. The bullet just grazed his shoulder. He went on back to his place once I got him bandaged up though. I think he's a bit pissed off about everything as well. You know him; he hates it when someone overpowers him at something."

"Yeah, tell me about it. He…" Bankotsu stopped as a loud crunching noise was heard over the speakerphone. "Mukotsu, what is that noise?"

"Ah shit, Kyoukotsu! Don't eat that, you freaking cannibal! I don't want to have to pump your stomach again!"

"Gesh. Calm down Mukotsu, it was just a metal can," Ginkotsu's voice commented.

Bankotsu dragged a hand down his face, "He's right Mukotsu; he's eaten worse."

"This is getting stupid _again_," Inuyasha muttered.

"He's eating…a can?" Kagura asked in disbelief.

"Kyoukotsu has this bad habit of…well, eating strange things," Bankotsu replied.

"Go eat food. Sheesh, I have something in the refrigerator," Mukotsu sighed. "Oh, Bankotsu, I had a question."

"Hmm? What?"

"That night Jakotsu left did he mention anything to you about helping Naraku out with something?"

"No, nothing at all. He just said he had to go meet with Renkotsu for some secret reason he couldn't tell me about."

"That's really strange. You think someone would have seen him between your place and Renkotsu's."

"Someone did."

"What?"

"Suikotsu saw him walking towards Renkotsu's that night. He was the last of us to see him."

"Suikotsu was? You didn't tell me that."

"Look Mukotsu, I don't want to jump to any conclusions yet, okay?"

"Okay, gotcha. Aw damnit Kyoukotsu, cook the meat before you eat it!"

"Is he eating raw meat again?" Bankotsu questioned.

"Yeah, he is. We should be lucky that after all the stuff he's eaten his stomach has just built up some tolerance to things like that."

"I still don't know how he swallowed that Rubber Ducky of Jakotsu's whole."

"That is truly a mystery, right there." Mukotsu replied with a laugh.

"Okay, this is _beyond stupid_!" Inuyasha exclaimed, "Can we please get on with our lives?"

"He ate a plastic duck? What is that guy, some damn machine?" Kagura sputtered.

"Actually, Ginkotsu's more of the machine of the group. Well, he has the metal jaw replacement at least," Mukotsu replied hearing the outbursts.

"Well, I better go for now Mukotsu. I'll call you if I find out anything, okay?" Bankotsu said, trying to get things calmed down.

"All right, same to you. Bye," He replied hanging up.

"That was _so_ pointless," I heard Inuyasha mutter, before the room went quiet.

Sensing that we all were deep in thought over the matter, Bankotsu turned to look at me.

"You're thinking that it's Suikotsu, right?"

I winced, but gave him the truth, "He's the biggest lead we've gotten so far. Sorry Bankotsu, but it looks like, he might have done something without knowing it…"

"If that's the case, then I just want to get Jakotsu out of there and hope we can get Suikotsu's medicine fixed. Those guys," He paused, a determined gleam in his eyes, "Those guys are my family. I'd hate to lose anyone of them or see them hurt each other."

"Well, I think one of these tapes must have that other member on it. We should probably see if it is who you suspect," Kagura suggested.

Bankotsu nodded and went to sit down on the couch. I decided to sit beside him- just in case something upset him again. Plus- _someone_ was sitting in my chair at the moment. Namely- Inuyasha. Sesshoumaru was leaning quietly against the wall by the doorframe, and if I hadn't looked about, I would have thought he had left the room due to his silence.

"Okay, we'll try the main room's tape about an hour after that last time," Kagura said fast-forwarding it and pausing it after a short while. "I'll just let it play for awhile, unless it gets too upsetting. Not even I want to hear all the shit that bastard puts people through."

She hit play, and it began.

"What happened to him?" Kagura's voice on the tape asked.

"Interrogation. See if you can get him bandaged up," A man's voice replied.

I didn't recognize that voice.

"Oh, that's Musou," Kagura remarked to me upon seeing my perplexed face.

"Musou?"

"He's the other guy that works for Naraku. Don't worry about him though; he says he's working undercover for some gang that's trying to take down Naraku."

I nodded and made note of it. The tape progressed.

"I'll take care of him. What's his name?"

"It's Jakotsu- one of the Kotsu gang's people. Naraku's trying to use him as bait for the leader to spill some info."

"That bastard…"

"Go on Kagura, get him someplace safe. I've got to talk to Naraku soon."

"Alright Musou, I'll look out for him."

I could hear the footsteps walking off, then silence. It was then I noticed that Inuyasha had fallen asleep in my chair. I had to admit- I was wondering why I didn't hear him grumbling or shooting his mouth off.

Right as I was about to get up and go wake him, I noticed that Sesshoumaru had pulled a pen from his jacket and had tossed it at his sleeping half-brother. I tried to focus on the tape, as I watched the two siblings glare at each other.

"So Musou, did you get him out of here for now?" Naraku spoke as his footsteps entered the room.

Inuyasha, meanwhile, had stirred awake; glared at Sesshoumaru, and in turn, tossed the pen back at him, followed by a paper clip from the desk. Sesshoumaru just raised an eyebrow.

"Yes Naraku. Kagura is dealing with him. What did you need?"

A paperclip and two pens made their way back towards Inuyasha. He scowled, and reached for something on the desk.

"I need you to handle the following matter with the Kotsu gang leader."

My concentration on the tape was getting more and more disrupted, as the two brothers were now hurling a paper wad back and forth. Inuyasha glaring. Sesshoumaru- as usual- was totally deadpan. I looked to Bankotsu, his face deadly and serious. I could tell he really wanted to go kill Naraku right this instant.

"What sir?" Musou asked.

"Tell him- we've got his little plaything here as a hostage. He has one week to tell me what he did with that heirloom of Hakushin's before I kill the boy off."

"Should I tell him now?"

"No. Wait three days. Let him miss Jakotsu a little first. Longing makes the heart grow fonder, they say," Naraku's laugh echoed slightly off the warehouse's walls.

"If you insist, sir."

"Go get the other one. The one who was kind enough to bring Jakotsu to me."

"Yes sir."

_The other one?_ _That means- the other Kotsu member…_

"Kagura, just a moment," I said standing and walking over between the childish fight- catching the paper wad in mid-air, "Can't you two be serious?"

"He started it!" Inuyasha said in defense, pointing at his brother.

"Dozing during a briefing isn't proper."

"Shut up!"

I glared at Inuyasha and then turned back to Kagura, "Okay, you can continue."

She nodded and pressed play.

"Well well, there you are." Naraku's voice said as footsteps were heard approaching.

"What did you need from me now?" Another voice spoke.

Bankotsu's eyes went wide- he recognized that voice, "That's…that's…"

Before he could finish though, there was a commotion from out in the hallway. Miroku and Sango were yelling at someone, then I heard Rin's scream. We were all about to go out and investigate when the door slammed open.

There stood Suikotsu, with Rin in his arms and a knife to her throat.

"Bankotsu's coming with me to Naraku's now- or the kid gets hurt."

---------------------------

Preview for Chapter 7: Suikotsu's holding Rin hostage until Bankotsu joins him in going to Naraku's place. They have the tape with the voice on it, but can they stop the action set in motion before someone else gets hurt?


	7. Chapter 7

Author's Notes: This chapter was revised on January 24, 2006.

--------------------------------------------

**-June 6th-**

**Entry at 8:09PM**

I looked frantically about the room, searching for anything at all to use to get the little girl free from the situation she was in.

"Suikotsu, what is this about?" Bankotsu said walking forward.

"You come with me and you tell Naraku what he wants to know, now! Or someone's getting hurt!" He said edging the blade closer to Rin's throat. She was obviously scared, but remained silent.

"Put down the kid, Suikotsu."

I could tell Bankotsu was trying to reason with him, and considering the previous incident, I figured trusting him would be our best bet. Sango and Miroku appeared behind him in the doorway, and before they could try anything, Suikotsu noticed them.

"_Kuso, damn baka think you can sneak up on me, eh? You try anything and the girl is dead, okay?_"

_His voice…_ I thought to myself, the pitch of it had changed; like before when he was angry- the voice changed.

"I'll do what you want Suikotsu as long as you put the girl down," Hands raised in front of him, Bankotsu kept walking closer towards his friend gone mad.

"_I'm not an idiot; I know you'll try something once I release her. So her, me and you are all going to Naraku's. You tell him what he wants to know, we get Jakotsu, and we get out of there. That way, no one has to get hurt, okay?_"

It was then I heard the trigger of a gun cock. Apparently Inuyasha had drawn the weapon during the commotion.

"Let her go," He demanded, "We know you are working for Naraku and we aren't tolerating it."

"_Shimatta, damn baka._ _I would never help that low life scum! Where the hell did you get that idea?_"

"We have a tape that proves it. It has you talking to him," Inuyasha said moving closer, watching to see if Suikotsu pushed the knife any nearer to Rin.

I was about to confirm the statement, when Bankotsu turned as if to shield Suikotsu from Inuyasha.

Shaking his head, he leveled Inuyasha with a serious glare, "You're wrong, that wasn't him on the tape."

"What the…"

But before Inuyasha could finish, Bankotsu replied, "That wasn't Suikotsu. That was Renkotsu."

The room went deadly silent as the revelation took hold. Suikotsu relaxed his hold on Rin, and looked to Bankotsu.

"Renkotsu? What about him?" He asked calmed for a moment.

"He-he helped Naraku get Jakotsu."

"_Temee_, _I ought to go rip that bald head of his from his body…_"

"But wasn't he just shot by Naraku?" I said, finally getting over the shock well enough to speak.

"Yeah, that's what I can't understand either," Bankotsu muttered.

I caught a motion then out of the corner of my eye. It turned out to be Sesshoumaru. Amidst the distraction, he'd pulled Rin away and now had Suikotsu's own knife pointed at Suikotsu's throat.

"Don't try that again," He said coldly.

Bankotsu stepped forward, "I'll handle this."

A slight nod from Sesshoumaru and he stepped back while sitting Rin on the floor. Kagura went over to check on her. Meanwhile, Miroku and Sango came back in and went to stand over by the wall.

"Rin, are you okay?" She asked.

"I'm fine, Miss Kagura. I'm not hurt at all," The girl replied with a smile, seemingly unfazed by the whole course of events so far.

I looked back to Bankotsu, who despite his height difference was confronting the taller Suikotsu.

"Medicine or not, I've told you thousands of times- never hurt children. What the hell is wrong with you?"

"Sorry Bankotsu, we just got a little upset…"

"Don't let it happen again, got it?" He said sharply.

"I won't," Suikotsu replied hanging his head.

Bankotsu ran a hand through his bangs and turned back towards us.

"Kagome, if you don't mind- I'm going to go see what's up with Renkotsu myself. I think Suikotsu and I can handle him if there is indeed a problem."

"Well, I'm not sure if you should."

"I'll go with them," Inuyasha said walking over.

"That's really not necessary," Bankotsu protested.

"I'm going or you stay here. That's final. The last thing our agency needs is you two going in there and doing something stupid just because you're all pissed off," He paused and then smugly grinned, "Plus, if you two are going to kick his ass, I want to be there to help."

_Figures…_ I thought to myself. And just when I thought he was actually being serious.

Bankotsu glared, and I was about to try and stop the forthcoming fight, when Sesshoumaru stepped in.

"You," He indicated Bankotsu, "Can ask Renkotsu what you wish. As for you, brother- you shall be a proper detective and just listen."

"Hey, this is our case you-"

"Your case now conflicts with mine, and I will not have your incompetence ruin my record."

As yet another fight seemed eminent; Rin stepped forward and tugged at Sesshoumaru's pants leg.

"Sesshoumaru, I drew you a pretty picture."

He raised an eyebrow as he turned toward her.

She thrust the picture upward to his level, and explained, "See? It's you and Miss Kagura. She's blushing in it because you've got your arm around her and she likes you."

It was then that Kagura, who was indeed blushing now, stormed forward, "Rin, I think that's quite enough of this for tonight."

"But Sesshoumaru didn't say if he likes my picture or not. Sesshoumaru, do you like my picture of you and Miss Kagura?" The girl said, producing a slight pout. I could hear Inuyasha stifling a laugh.

Sesshoumaru looked from the drawing to Kagura and then back to Rin. "It's…nice." Came the muttered reply before he continued, "We shall attend to this tomorrow, Kagura. Get the files so we can go."

She nodded and turned to me, "It looks like we have to go. I'll take those files and let you know if hear back from Musou about Jakotsu."

"Um…sure," I replied, going to retrieve the files in question. Sesshoumaru was already out the door with Rin.

"It is getting a little late isn't it?" Miroku said aloud, while pretending to yawn.

"You aren't getting out of this paperwork Miroku, so don't even try it," Sango retorted.

"Eheh, who said I was trying to get out of paperwork?"

Sango just glared in reply, as I pulled out the file the other agency had requested.

"Here's what we have on last week's case," I said handing it to her.

"Thanks. We'll see what we can turn up and let you know if we do find anything."

They turned and headed out the door; I bit my lip, my curiosity getting the best of me, and followed them out into the hall, closing the door behind me.

"Um…Kagura, can I talk to you for a moment?"

"I guess…" She said turning.

Sesshoumaru nodded in what I assumed meant "_I'll wait with Rin in the car."_ Then he walked on down the stairs, as Rin waved goodbye to me and scurried after him.

"What do ya want?" Kagura's voice drew my attention back to her.

"Well, I just can't understand one thing. Why are you helping us like this? I know Sesshoumaru and Inuyasha don't get along very well, so even the fact that you'd come to us for information is strange to me."

"Hmph, thank Jakotsu for this one."

"Jakotsu?"

She shifted her arms and continued, lowering her voice a bit; "I didn't say this earlier because I knew it would upset your client. Jakotsu…well, he has more than just bruises, Kagome."

I stifled a gasp, hands covering my mouth as she continued.

"Musou and I both think it was a broom handle, but we aren't sure. We just know there's cuts all over his back and that if we hadn't bandaged him up when we did, well… he could have bled to death."

"But, I thought Naraku was using him as a hostage to lure Bankotsu there."

"Naraku doesn't need a live hostage to get what he wants, Kagome. As long as he has the person, and his target knows that, they generally hand over the information only to discover that it was too late for their companion. At least, that's what our clues seem to indicate in regards to similar situations as this."

"That's horrible! We need to get Jakotsu out of there now," I replied, my worry for Jakotsu growing larger by the moment.

"I know, but if we try haphazardly, we'll endanger not only him but others and ourselves as well. I'm going to try and work out a plan with Musou tomorrow though, and Sesshoumaru has almost gotten enough information properly documented for the cops to use as evidence for a search warrant. We just need to get Jakotsu out of there by then, so he doesn't get killed when they raid the place."

"I understand, but I really do want to help you guys out."

"You can. We'll keep you informed as to what's going on with Naraku and you keep up your case with the Kotsu gang. The two definitely connect, and once we figure out where the connection stems from, perhaps we can use the Kotsu gang to help us against Naraku. And don't you worry about Sesshoumaru. Whether he acts it or not, he's just as concerned with getting Jakotsu to safety as the rest of us."

"He sure has a funny way of showing it," I muttered thinking back on the man's attitude towards it all.

"Trust me on this one; he doesn't want Naraku to kill anymore people. Why do you think he took Rin in?"

"Rin?" I asked confused.

"So not even his half-brother knows why?" Kagura questioned in return.

"Inuyasha just said he adopted her and wouldn't say anything more."

She nodded and began to explain, "Her parents were killed by Naraku, they'd seen too much and Sesshoumaru solved the case too late. That was before I'd teamed up with him, but that's what Rin's told me about it. I think he felt responsible for their deaths and took her in. The man does have a kind side deep down inside him…okay, maybe more like very deep down inside him; but he's not about to let Naraku kill again, even if it means asking you and your boyfriend for help."

My brain stopped processing the clues for a moment and produced a blush on my face, "Excuse me?"

"Oh sorry," Kagura quickly apologized, "Rin said he was your boyfriend, so I assumed that was the case since I didn't see any rings yet."

_Rings?_ My blush deepened. "We're just detective partners, that's all." I managed to stammer.

"I see," she smirked knowingly, "Well, good luck getting through his thick head. If he's anything like his elder brother, romance isn't exactly his specialty."

I blinked- well there was the thing Rin said earlier, "You mean, you and Sesshoumaru…"

This time, a light blush lit her features, "No! I didn't say anything like that. I mean, he's handsome and all but…I…"

Seeing her apprehension, I decided to go for a truce, "Neither of them are that bad deep down, right?" I asked smiling.

She smiled back, "Yeah, once you get through their attitudes and learn to read facial expressions that vary from one degree of an eyebrow to another degree, I guess they aren't so bad."

"Are you two done with your female bonding…and stuff?" A voice said coming from the nearby doorway. I turned to see Inuyasha leaning against the frame and blushing slightly himself.

I composed myself and retorted, "And why were you listening in?"

"I thought my idiot brother might have been giving you trouble."

"Oh," I dropped my head. I really needed to work on my timing when it came to things involving Inuyasha.

"Are we going or not?" I heard Suikotsu ask from inside the office.

Bankotsu hushed him, "Shhh, Inuyasha and Kagome are sharing a moment."

"Shut up! We are not!" Inuyasha snapped as he turned around.

I was about to protest myself, when I heard Kagura's cell phone ring. I turned as she answered.

"Hello? Musou? Hey. He's still okay? Thank goodness. What? You have him there with you now? Is Naraku around? Okay, are you sure he left? Good. I've got Bankotsu here. I'll explain later, just put Jakotsu on the line."

She gestured to Bankotsu, who had been looking on from the doorway with an edge of hope. He walked forward as she continued, "Hey kid. You doing okay? Musou not causing you too much trouble is he? That's good. Well, I have a little surprise for ya. I've got Bankotsu here, and I thought you'd like to talk to him. Sure kid." She held out the phone to Bankotsu, "Go on, you don't have long before Naraku comes back."

He nodded and shakily took the phone, "Jakotsu?" He paused, and turned a bit away from the rest of us trying to keep some dignity. I could tell he was about to cry. "I'm so sorry Jakotsu, this is all my fault. Don't you worry, I'm gonna get you out of there, no matter what it takes. Yeah, I miss you a lot too. I'm just so glad you're alive. I was really worried. What? Musou says Naraku's coming? Oh okay, well…goodbye then…" He looked about and realized that we were all still listening in and blushed slightly, "Love ya too, Jakotsu."

After taking a deep breath, he handed the phone back to Kagura.

"You going to be okay?" She questioned, hitting the end button.

He nodded mutely, and turned back towards the office. Suikotsu stopped him, "Bankotsu, you up to this?"

Bankotsu looked up and forced a smile, "I'll be okay, now let's go talk to Renkotsu."

I turned around as I heard Kagura call out to me, "I'll call you tomorrow, Kagome."

"Okay Kagura." I replied.

"Ick, more girl talk," Inuyasha muttered.

"Well, you three better head on out. We'll start in on the paperwork here."

Bankotsu nodded, "I'll call if anything comes up, Kagome."

"I'll be there to handle it," Inuyasha stepped forward then, and turned to me. "I have my cell phone, the gun, and that other stuff you always tell me to take."

I just smiled, "Okay, you be careful. All three of you."

Inuyasha looked slightly miffed that the sentiment wasn't just for him and he turned to the others. "Let's go."

I turned back towards the room where Miroku and Sango were waiting. It was going to be a long night with that pile of paper on my desk, but if it brought us any closer to solving this, then it was worth it. There was just one thing bothering me now. _If Renkotsu helped Naraku, then why did Naraku shoot him? Was Renkotsu really trying to help Jakotsu escape or…was there something else?_

----------------------------------------

Preview for Chapter 8: Bankotsu, Suikotsu and Inuyasha have gone to find out the real story from Renkotsu…. But are Kagome and Kagura going to sit around while there's obviously a connection to the case?


	8. Chapter 8

Author's Notes: This chapter was revised on January 24, 2006.

--------------------------------------------

**-June 7th-**

**Entry at 1:27AM**

I looked to the clock again- 1:27am and he still hadn't called. Miroku and Sango had left about midnight and I was still at the office desperately awaiting word from Inuyasha or Bankotsu. It was really beginning to worry me, so I decided I'd look over the clues again to keep my mind off things.

As I sorted through pages of notes- something clicked.

"Kagura said that tape was from late the fourth or early the fifth, but Bankotsu had talked to Renkotsu not long after he realized Jakotsu was missing. How did Renkotsu pull it off if he was still able to be in that alley about thirty some minutes after Jakotsu was last seen…"

I glanced at the clock again- 1:51. It was late, but I could at least leave a message. I picked up the paper that had her number written on it and dialed- waiting for her answering message to come on. Instead, I heard a reply.

"Hello?"

"Kagura? I'm sorry I called so late. Did I wake you?"

"No. But if you're worried about Inuyasha- he's still not home yet. Sesshoumaru just left to go and find him and I'm staying here at the house with Rin while she sleeps."

"Well yes, I was worried; but that's not why I called."

"Something else come up?" She questioned.

"Sort of. I just needed to ask you something."

"What?"

"I know you can't disclose Naraku's exact whereabouts without the risk of exposing your undercover status, but how long do you think it would take a person to get from an alleyway at 162nd street to where Naraku is and back to the alley?"

"162nd street? The one in the Shichinin district?"

"Yeah. That one."

"Well, walking slowly, I'd guess about thirty minutes or so."

"So about fifteen each way?"

"Unless they were running, I'd say so."

"Suppose- they were carrying someone else."

"You thinking that Renkotsu did something in that alley?"

"Bankotsu found him in that alley about thirty minutes after he started searching for Jakotsu. And- Renkotsu had Jakotsu's hair pin with him at that time."

"That bastard. He's trying to set us up to lay all the blame on Naraku."

"Exactly. Renkotsu's got some reason for helping Naraku, but he's also trying to make Naraku take all the blame."

"Wait a second- isn't that who the guys were going to go talk to?"

"You think that maybe that's why it's taken so long?" I bit my lip, thinking up all the horrible scenarios that could have occurred.

There was a pause before she spoke again, "You up to going in and kicking some ass tonight?"

"What?"

"Renkotsu doesn't know either of us. And if he's seen us, it's just a brief glance- so for us to get the jump on him will be a lot easier than the guys. Let's see, I can drop Rin off over at that female associate's of yours, okay?"

"I guess Sango wouldn't mind…"

"All right then, get in some causal clothes and I'll meet you at your office in about fifteen to twenty minutes."

"Okay."

I hung up the phone and went to dig through the spare clothes I kept stored in the closet.

Part of my brain kept saying, "_Kagome, what in the hell are you doing?"_ but if it would help close this case, I was willing to try it. Plus, Kagura seemed to know what she was doing. I pulled out some jeans and a red tank top. Then I located my black leather coat- for use in concealing my gun holster and quickly changed.

A quiet knock at the door let me know that Kagura had arrived. I looked out through the crack and once I was certain it was indeed her- opened the door. Wearing an oriental shirt, similar in pattern and design to the dress she had before, and a pair of jeans stood Kagura holding the hand of a sleepy Rin.

She rubbed her eyes and muttered, "Hello Miss Kagome."

I just smiled and replied, "Don't worry Rin, you can go back to sleep once we get you to Sango's house."

"You ready?" Kagura asked, drawing my attention back upwards.

"I think so."

"Good, I just got a text message back from Sesshoumaru. Apparently they still hadn't even found Renkotsu when he caught up with the three of them. I got a general location though, so we just have to catch up with them."

"What are we doing again?" I asked, not wanting to brashly try something.

"Well…" She picked up Rin and sat her on the couch as we talked, "I figure the boys are going to be fairly tense so we can single out Renkotsu and get some answers that way. Or in the case they've already started a fight, we can go break it up before someone calls the cops and they arrest our lead and your client."

I nodded and listened as she explained things.

"So, as long as we act tough and get the boys to play along, it should work just fine."

"Yeah, it should." I thought to myself, wondering how she thought this up on such quick noticed.

We worked out a few more details for the before loading into the car and heading over to Sango's to drop off Rin.

The lights were out, and I really hated awakening her at this hour; but it couldn't be helped. I rang the doorbell and awaited a reply. I could see Sango peer out before unlatching the door.

"Kagome? What's wrong?" She questioned.

"Can we come in? I'll explain then," I said, gesturing to Rin, who was about to fall asleep standing up, "We need someplace for Rin to stay while we're out."

"Oh okay. Come with me, Rin. I'll pull out a sleeping bag and you can stay with Kohaku." She said leading the little girl by the hand.

I followed her as Sango tapped lightly on the door to her brother's room.

"Will she be okay with this brother?" Kagura asked.

"Oh, don't worry. Kohaku's a nice kid, he wouldn't hurt her or anything."

"I would hope not. Sesshoumaru would kill him otherwise."

"He's that protective?" I stammered back.

"Surprisingly, yes," Kagura shrugged, "I guess he doesn't want anything else to happen to Rin. She's gone through so much already."

"Oh…yeah…"

I heard a muffled voice from the room, "Sis, what's going on? I'm trying to sleep."

"Kohaku, I just need to set up a place for Rin to sleep. She's going to stay here for the night."

"Rin?" He questioned, sitting up and looking at the sleepy young girl.

Despite her tired appearance, Rin's face stretched into a smile as she rushed forth and stuck a hand out for Kohaku to shake. "Hi! I'm Rin, nice to meet you."

"Uh…hello," Kohaku said nervously in reply. He was blushing a bit too.

Sango laughed as she whispered to us, "I think he likes her."

Kohaku looked to the sleeping bag Sango had rolled out onto the floor and back to Rin, "Um… you can take my bed if you want. I don't mind sleeping on the floor."

If it was possible, Rin's smile got even wider then and she hugged the shocked boy, "Kohaku you're so nice! Rin likes you! Why don't we have a slumber party and we can talk about the things we like and you can tell me about yourself and I can tell you about myself and then we can talk about other things."

"Uh okay…." Kohaku said shyly.

"It looks like they'll be just fine." Sango remarked to us closing the door- obviously slightly amused at her brother's reaction to the little girl. After walking back into the living room, she spoke again, "So what's up?"

"Kagura and I are going to try going in and handling this Renkotsu lead ourselves. The guys haven't come back yet, so we aren't sure what's going on and of course, we needed somewhere for Rin to stay that would be safe."

She nodded, "Okay, you two be careful and don't hesitate to call if you need me to call in the cops or something."

"All right, we will."

"And I'll make sure Rin and Kohaku behave themselves, even though it looks like Rin's just going to talk until she falls asleep."

I laughed a bit, and Kagura replied, "I wouldn't put it past her. She does that quite often."

Once we finished up there, we headed towards the location where Sesshoumaru had indicted they were at. It turned out to be down by the docks on the harbor. We parked the car, and went by foot into the areas amidst the warehouses of the wharf. I had my hand on my gun the entire time, listening for anything at all.

I looked to Kagura, whose eyes were darting about searching for any form of movement. Her hand was also to the holster about her waist. We weren't risking anything, so we had to be careful because we didn't want to shoot someone we knew.

As I was just about to turn a corner- Kagura stopped abruptly.

"There's Sesshoumaru," She whispered pointing to a shadowy figure pressed against a nearby wall. I could barely discern his white hair against his dark attire in the dim lighting.

He tilted his sunglasses down a bit, looking to Kagura. His lips dropped from their usual 'uninterested' state to a frown. She just put her arms to her hips in reply. It was if they communicated merely through facial and physical gestures.

I watched as the silent conversation continued and was able to deduce a few things. One, Sesshoumaru wasn't very happy that we were down there and planning something. Two, Kagura told him off and stubbornly argued that we could handle it. It seemed they were just about to start up another silent argument, when a voice caught my ears. One that was speaking Japanese- angrily. I couldn't understand him, but Bankotsu's voice that followed pretty much explained it all.

"I don't care if you are second in rank, that doesn't give you the right to go and do something like this!"

The next voice that spoke, the same as from the tape, had to be Renkotsu.

"I didn't think the asshole had this up his sleeve. That was the only reason I lied to you then- Naraku told me I wasn't to speak of him to you. He'd sent me back to get the hairpin so you wouldn't find it. I just thought he was going to ask Jakotsu some things about the heist. If I'd known he was planning this- I wouldn't have helped him at all!"

"And why don't I believe that?" Bankotsu demanded angrily.

"The man shot me, Bankotsu. I'm not helping him anymore," He retorted.

"Okay, but you _had_ been helping him and Jakotsu's gotten hurt and who knows what else because of that! So, until Jakotsu is safe back with me I'm not forgiving you for this incident. I don't appreciate people stabbing me in the back, Renkotsu." The voice was calm, yet clearly commanding.

"I'm sorry, damnit! I tried to get him out and all I got from it was a bullet wound."

I heard something else from Suikotsu in Japanese before Bankotsu spoke again.

"Renkotsu- you are to stay with Kyoukotsu and Ginkotsu 'til this is over. I'm not in a very trusting mood right now, got that?"

"Understood," Renkotsu reluctantly responded.

I saw Kagura motion to me and I followed. Our plan was to jump Suikotsu and Bankotsu, let them know to play along and get the facts we needed from Renkotsu.

Apparently, she'd already told Sesshoumaru what was going on and I could see him gesturing to someone else. I looked closer and could see InuYasha, who was along another wall in the shadows, using his best-unspoken form of communication in reply to his elder brother. Namely- his middle finger.

I held my breath. I'd pulled some crazy stunts in the few years I'd been a detective, but this had to be one of the craziest. "_Jumping your own client in an attempt to get some clues._ _Oh well, here goes nothing…"_ I thought to myself as I edged my way around the corner.

Kagura rushed past me. A knife, drawn out of what I think was her cleavage, glinted in the light as she tackled Suikotsu to the ground. I moved next, gun drawn smoothly and forced against Bankotsu's forehead.

"Don't move," I said firmly, grabbing his arm to prevent him reaching for his own weapon.

Kagura on the other hand, was still struggling with Suikotsu.

"_Baka_ _no onna!_ What's going on, I thought that you…"

She clamped her hand over his mouth before he could say anymore, whispering to him, "Shut up, will ya?"

I looked up to see that Renkotsu was glancing around, obviously trying to see if there were others. But he was trapped in a dead end, so we had he right where we wanted him.

Suikotsu's struggles brought a nearby trashcan clattering to the ground, and finally Kagura was able to say enough to him to get him to calm himself.

Meanwhile, I used the distraction to inform Bankotsu of what was going on.

"Hey Bankotsu," I whispered while my eyes watched to see if Renkotsu was watching us, "Just play along, we're trying to force some clues from Renkotsu."

He nodded, and whispered back, "Tell me to throw down my weapon then."

"Okay," I replied, speaking up in a commanding voice, "Come on, put down your gun."

"Fine fine," He said, slowly handing me his weapon.

"What's the meaning of this?" Renkotsu demanded, about to draw his own gun when Kagura fired. The bullet grazed the side of his head, a trickle of blood running down.

"Listen here. We heard a rumor that you're helping Naraku with something and we want the details and now."

"And why should I tell you?" He retorted.

"Renkotsu, do what they say. They're members of that all female gang from the South district I heard about once. They skinned a man alive once for trying something, so just answer them," Bankotsu stammered, trying to act semi-afraid.

"_Thanks a lot, Bankotsu."_ I thought to myself before speaking, "Hey now, who said you could talk? Eh?" I pressed the gun further against his head and turned to Renkotsu. "Okay, now start talking. We need to know why some two-bit members are working for Naraku without their Leader's orders."

Kagura spoke up next, "And if you don't answer us soon asshole, you and your two pals will be regretting it in the afterlife."

"So you want to know what's up with Naraku? Is that all?" He asked.

"Just talk!" I demanded.

He looked around again, and once he realized he was indeed trapped, spoke. "Okay then, I guess I have no choice…"

----------------------

Preview for Chapter 9:

Will Kagome and Kagura be able to pull of their little stunt and get the clues they need? Or have they gotten in deeper than they can handle with a member of an infamous gang?


	9. Chapter 9

Author's Notes: This chapter was revised on January 24, 2006.

--------------------------------------------

**-June 7th-**

**Entry at 3:48AM**

I waited, knowing that given the scenario, I would have to try and mentally remember any clues he said.

Renkotsu crossed his arms, and began to speak, "It was a few nights ago. Naraku had contacted me saying that he needed to know something about the heist and didn't want to trouble our leader if he didn't have to. He figured that the second and third in the gang's ranks could tell him what he needed to know, and asked me to bring Jakotsu without Jakotsu knowing it. He's very secretive about his location and thought that Jakotsu might tell someone. So, I asked Jakotsu to meet me that night and hit him to get him unconscious."

"You bastard, why in the…." Bankotsu interrupted, and despite how upset I knew that made him, I had to silence him.

"Quiet now, let your friend talk," I said pressing the gun against his temple again. I nodded to Renkotsu that he should continue.

"So, I took Jakotsu there, and that's when everything went to hell. Naraku never intended to talk to either of us- he just used me to get Jakotsu as his hostage so Bankotsu would talk. After finding that out, I tried to get Jakotsu out of there, but I just got shot. And that's all I know."

Kagura edged forward then, Suikotsu still struggling somewhat and cursing in Japanese. "And how do we know that you are telling us the truth, eh?"

"You'll just have to take my word, but even those two can attest that I do have a bullet wound from Naraku," Renkotsu retorted.

I looked back over at Kagura, who was having more and more trouble holding Suikotsu still.

"_Kuso! Let go of me onna! Shimatta!_" The angered-side voice of Suikotsu yelled.

Obviously seeing the distraction Suikotsu was making as an opening; Renkotsu drew his gun and was aiming for Kagura. I quickly shifted Bankotsu's own gun at him and pointed mine at Renkotsu. I bit my lip and fired.

_Please, hit the right spot…_ I thought to myself as the bullet shot forth.

Renkotsu's gun skidded to the ground and Kagura delivered a kick to his stomach as she turned to run.

"Let's go, now!" She yelled. I quickly followed, figuring I could give Bankotsu his gun back the next time he was at the office.

Renkotsu quickly recovered his weapon and began to fire at us.

"Hey, you have two guns girl- use them damnit!" Kagura called over to me as we ran.

I looked with apprehension to the other gun, and sighed, _Okay…here goes nothing…_

Turning slightly as I ran, and dodging the bullets headed our way, I aimed both guns and fired behind us. One bullet grazed Renkotsu's leg; the other hit his gun away again. Using what little time that gave us, Kagura and I ran like hell and finally got to the car.

Apparently, Sesshoumaru and Inuyasha had seen the situation and had gotten to the car and pulled it closer. The tires squealed as they sharply turned the corner, and we piled into the car and floored it.

I practically jumped into the back seat, as the bullets echoed behind me. It was only after we'd turned around the corner and had gone around a few more streets that I noticed my position.

"Um…err...Kagome, could you move?" Inuyasha squeaked out, his face bright red.

Leave it to me to get off some superb gunshots, then go and land face first in my partner's crotch when jumping into the car.

Blushing furiously, I removed myself and sat upright.

"Uh…sorry about that…" I stammered.

"Should I stop so Kagura can move up into the front seat and let you two be?" The calm voice of Sesshoumaru intoned from the driver's seat.

"Hey! We aren't doing anything like _that_!" Inuyasha spluttered.

Kagura just smirked, "Yeah, you weren't doing anything _yet…_"

"Shut up! You're stupid!" He retorted.

I sighed, "Guys, can we please just drop this…" I was still incredibly embarrassed by my little blunder.

The car went silent for a while, until Kagura spoke up.

"Who taught you how to shoot, Kagome? That was really awesome back there."

I shrugged, "Learned the same as everyone else at the Academy, guess I'm just lucky or something."

"She used to be horrible," Inuyasha muttered, "Couldn't hit the target no matter how hard she tried."

"You weren't much better back then!" I snapped back.

The minor argument continued for a few minutes, and then we returned to silence.

This time, Inuyasha was the one that spoke up, "So, do you think he was telling us the truth?"

"There's no way to know for sure, but it was the same story he'd told to Bankotsu before so, it is possible he really didn't know of Naraku's true intentions," I replied.

"And saying Naraku shot him isn't that far-fetched either. Especially since it seemed he was trying to get Jakotsu out of there," Kagura added.

"Your client doesn't trust him at the moment, so going by that judge of character, it would be best if we remained skeptical on his actions," Sesshoumaru said calmly.

"We should probably go get Rin." Kagura said leaning up towards the front seat, "Sesshoumaru, just keep driving and I'll tell you where to turn at, okay?"

He nodded mutely in response.

We finally arrived at Sango's house, and were surprised to see that the lights were on. Considering the time it was, that seemed really strange, and made me a bit apprehensive as we parked.

The three others behind me, I approached the door and knocked lightly. I heard Sango's voice murmur something, and finally the door opened.

I blinked twice and stifled a laugh.

Kagura laughingly spoke, "Poor kid looks like he's become victim to a Rin-style makeover."

Kohaku blanched and blushed, "Ah! Now other people have to see me like this. I'm going to my room!"

Rin followed, "But Kohaku, I still needed to do your eye shadow!"

Sango turned to us, laughing a bit herself, "So how'd things go?"

"Good," I stated simply, "And I take it Rin's been keeping you up?"

"Yeah, she made a slumber party of it. I can go get her if you need to go."

"It is late," Kagura said, "She really does need to get some sleep."

Sango nodded, and went to retrieve the little girl. Rin came back, practically bouncing, and smiling widely.

"Did you have fun beating up the bad guys?" She asked cheerfully.

Kagura smiled, "Sure kid, now let's get you home."

"Awww, but I was having lots of fun playing with Kohaku!"

"Rin," Sesshoumaru said simply.

"Okay, I'll come- just let me say goodbye to Kohaku," she replied dejectedly.

About then, Kohaku, who'd apparently rid himself of the makeup, had stuck his head back out his bedroom door.

Rin rushed over, "Bye, bye Kohaku! I'll miss you. We'll have to play again some other time. Night!" She said hugging him.

Kohaku blushed slightly, "Uh…goodnight Rin."

With that matter attended to, Rin skipped back over to us, "Okay, I can go now."

Sesshoumaru nodded, and turned to leave.

"I think that was a 'thanks,'" I whispered to Sango in regards to the nod.

Sango smiled, "Don't worry, she wasn't a problem at all. And don't hesitate to have her come over again while you're working on the case."

"Okay, thanks again." I replied, as we turned to leave.

After driving back to the office, Kagura had agreed to help me write down our conversation with Renkotsu really quick before they left for the night. We walked up to the office, and right as I went to unlock the door I heard a piece of paper crumple beneath my shoes.

I bent down and picked it up.

"Neh, what's that?" Inuyasha questioned.

I skimmed the paper, and turned back to him, "It's another note from 'X.'"

"Note?" Kagura inquired.

"Yeah, I'll explain once we get inside." I replied turning the key in the lock.

Once in, I switched on the nearby lamp and took a better look at the paper. Just like the one before, a small index card had a cryptic message of sorts on it.

"It reads, '_He is not who he appears to be, but you can still save him. Save them both.'_ And signed just '_X_' again." I commented to Inuyasha.

"What's this about?" Kagura asked leaning over to look at it.

"We'd gotten another mysterious letter like this before. Similar message and signed the same."

"Seems someone wants you to help without asking you in person," Sesshoumaru remarked.

"I'm still confused as to which person or persons they talk about though. Both notes say we need to '_save them both_' but aside from Jakotsu, I can't think of anyone else that's been reported missing." I replied, still very perplexed.

"'_He is not who he appears to be.'"_ Kagura read, "Could it be that Suikotsu guy? With the two sides?"

"You thinking he might still be mixed up in this somehow?" Inuyasha retorted.

"Well there was that issue about the ring…" I muttered aloud, thinking it over.

"Ring?" Sesshoumaru calmly asked.

"At the alley where Jakotsu's hairpin was at, we found a scrap of white cloth and a gold ring. When we mentioned the ring around Suikotsu- at first he demanded that we give it to him. He really seemed to want it for some reason, and when questioned further, he mentioned it had something to do with a promise he'd made to Jakotsu and that Bankotsu shouldn't know about it."

"Could the ring be the heirloom Naraku wants?" Inuyasha propositioned.

I went to the drawer and pulled out the item in question, and looked at it, "It seems just like a normal gold ring though. What's so special about it?"

"Wait a second; Suikotsu doesn't want Bankotsu to know about it, right?" Kagura questioned.

"That's the impression he gave to me, he said the ring would upset Bankotsu," I replied.

"Is it possible that during the heist Suikotsu took the heirloom- the ring in this scenario- and Jakotsu saw him? Then, for some other reason, Bankotsu didn't want them to steal that ring. Perhaps, Bankotsu knew it would cause troubles with Naraku and had told them to leave the ring be; but Suikotsu, perhaps in part to his various personalities, took it anyway. That would explain, one- the promise with Jakotsu to keep quiet about it, two- why it would anger Bankotsu, and three- why he'd want it back."

I stopped and thought on all that Kagura had just said, "It seems possible- except for one thing. Jakotsu in the tapes of his conversation with Naraku said he didn't know where the heirloom was. So unless he was lying or he didn't see Suikotsu take it, it can't be that. Either way though, it's something to keep in mind." 

"Hmm... well, we'd better be getting Rin to bed," Kagura remarked seeing the small girl dozing in Sesshoumaru's arms as he stood by the door.

"I understand, just let us know if anything comes up. And see if you can figure anything out when you're at Naraku's tomorrow."

"I will. You two just keep up the way you've been dealing with Bankotsu. Him and his connection with the other members might be just what we need to solve this."

I nodded in return and led them out. We really should have sat down and dealt with some things better, but it was very late and we were all tired. I waved goodbye to them as they went down to their car and Inuyasha just muttered to his half-brother.

"I'll be home once we finish up stuff here- if I feel like it."

Sesshoumaru just quirked an eyebrow and replied, "I'll make sure to lock all the deadbolts then."

As their car drove off down the street, I looked to the pile of papers atop my desk and sighed, "I'm too tired to deal with this now, let's just worry about it tomorrow."

"Let me at least get you a bandage for that cut before you go home," I heard Inuyasha say very quietly.

"Cut?" I asked confused.

"On your arm, there's a small cut," He replied pulling out the first-aid kit and digging around in it.

I looked to where it was, and sure enough, there was a small cut on my arm and a tiny amount of blood trickling down from the wound.

Inuyasha snatched up a tissue and blotted at it. "Okay, this should work..."

Just then a knock sounded on the door and a voice came from the other side.

"Kagome? Inuyasha? I saw the light on and thought you'd still be here," The distinct voice of Bankotsu called out.

"The door's open," I replied.

I turned slightly to see him come in, while Inuyasha was still trying to get the bandage secured. Bankotsu paused a second, then smirked slyly.

"Did I interrupt something?"

"Shut up, you!" Inuyasha snapped, "She just has a cut and I'm just putting something on it. That's all, okay?"

"Touchy," He remarked in reply.

I just laughed nervously as the two glared at each other.

"Bankotsu, sorry about that last minute stunt earlier," I said once Inuyasha had finished getting the bandage on.

"It's okay. Though, I would like my gun back."

"Oh of course," I said picking it up off my desk and handing it back.

"And don't worry about Renkotsu. I've got him staying with Kyoukotsu and Ginkotsu until this is all over. They'll alert me if he tries anything."

"That's good." 

"Um..." He rubbed the back of his head nervously, "If it wouldn't be too much trouble, could I stay here again tonight?"

"Of course. We don't mind at all."

"If Kagome stays, I'm staying," Inuyasha said firmly.

"Fine with me," He shrugged and went to sit on the couch. He pulled out his cell phone and blinked, "A message?" He hit a few buttons and listened.

His eyes went wide, and he handed the phone to me, "Kagome, you should hear this."

I took the phone and hit the repeat. A fuzzy and distorted message began, "Bankotsu, this is Jakotsu. I'm borrowing Musou's phone and it's running low on power, but I need to tell you something important. Whatever you do, don't trust..." The message crackled, and the last thing I heard was, "...kotsu" before the phone had gone dead.

--------------------------------

Preview for Chapter 10:

Jakotsu's distorted message was a warning, but which of the five members of the gang is the one they should be looking out for? And is the gold ring truly the heirloom that Naraku seeks?


	10. Chapter 10

Author's Notes: This chapter was revised on January 24, 2006.

--------------------------------------------

**-June 7th-  
Entry at 5:07AM**

I played the message again, desperately hoping that it was just a one-time glitch. But, much to my dismay, it wasn't. I turned and handed the phone back to Bankotsu.

"What's going on?" Inuyasha questioned seeing the tension that was building.

Bankotsu took a deep breath and replied, "Jakotsu was trying to warn us, but- the phone went dead."

"Warn us?"

"He said," Bankotsu paused and somewhat sadly continued, "Said that I shouldn't trust one of the other five. I don't know who though, since it cut off."

Inuyasha crossed his arms, "Well my guess would be Renkotsu or Suikotsu."

He sighed running a hand through his bangs, "Looks like Jakotsu's the only one I can truly rely on right now."

"Is there any way we could narrow it down?" I questioned.

"I'm not so sure anymore. I wouldn't have distrusted any one of them until this, but now... Renkotsu went behind my back and Suikotsu's not been himself and I'm just not sure about anything anymore," He replied burying his face in his hands.

"This must be so hard for you," I remarked quietly, trying to comfort him if I could.

He nodded and pulled out his wallet. From inside he produced a tattered newspaper clipping.

"What's that?" I asked moving closer.

"Our first big heist together," He replied dejectedly, "First time we made the headlines." 

He extended it to my reach and I delicately took it from him. It appeared to have been taken by a reporter as the seven were fleeing the scene. Bankotsu had turned to face the camera- pulling down his eyelid and sticking out his tongue. Holding onto his arm as if to keep him running, was Jakotsu, smiling just as widely. Behind them was Suikotsu who'd paused to flip-off the cameraman and the remaining other four were all in the background running from the scene as well.

"That's how things used to be, just one strange family of sorts for all of us. I just want to go back to that- go back to life as normal."

I placed a comforting hand on his shoulder, "And we'll keep trying our hardest to help you, but right now we all need to sleep. We can't get anything done if we are all walking around like zombies."

Bankotsu shrugged in reply, "Just let me call Mukotsu really quick. I think I can trust him since I doubt he'd steal his own potions."

I nodded and watched as he dialed.

"Hey Mukotsu. I don't care if you're busy- I need you to do something. Go stay with Suikotsu. Your idiotic devil-fruit potion or whatever it is can wait. Why? Because I want to make sure he's okay and that he doesn't do anything he shouldn't be doing. Fine- just a second, okay?"

He turned to me and covered the phone.

"Kagome, can you do me a favor?"

"Uh...what?"

"Convince Mukotsu to go keep an eye on Suikotsu. He has a weakness for girls so he should listen to you."

I blinked, "Ehhh?" 

"He's too wrapped up in his new potion to listen to me."

"Well...okay," I replied hesitantly

_It's for the good of the case_, I thought to myself.

Taking the phone from him, I spoke, "Hello, Mukotsu."

"Well, if it isn't the lovely Kagome. What can I do for you sweetheart?"

I winced, and tried to act as nice as possible, "Well, I'm still really worried about Jakotsu; and since Suikotsu might be the one who's unconsciously doing things, I was wondering if you could go watch him. I'd do it myself, but we've been out all night and I still haven't slept."

"Oh, you poor dear. I'll go watch him, don't you worry. You just get your beauty sleep and I'll make sure Suikotsu stays put."

_Good, it worked. Now to seal it..._I thought to myself before replying, "Thanks so much, Mukotsu. This really means a lot to me."

_Yeah, just go baby-sit him for us, I want to sleep._ My mind added, I was so tired.

"Could you put Bankotsu back on? I need to ask him something," Mukotsu asked.

"Sure," I replied returning the phone to its owner. I then listened as they talked.

"What is it Mukotsu? Hmm? He called you? Oh, so Ginkotsu let him have the phone and he called you? I see. Yeah, I used that room with the deadbolt on the outside that we use when you don't want Kyoukotsu to eat your things. Hmm? It's because he took Jakotsu to Naraku's. Exactly, I don't trust him much right now either but Ginkotsu and Kyoukotsu are watching him and that door's locked. Sure, I'll let you go. Thanks for watching Suikotsu for us. Goodnight," Bankotsu said ending the conversation and putting the phone away.

"What was that about?" I asked yawning.

"Renkotsu got pissed about me putting him in a deadbolted room and somehow talked Ginkotsu into letting him have a phone long enough to call and whine to Mukotsu about it."

"A deadbolted room?" Inuyasha inquired from my desk chair.

"We have a room that we placed the deadbolt on the outside of. It was so we could keep Kyoukotsu from snacking on Mukotsu's poisons when he worked on them at that apartment."

"Ah..." I rubbed my eyes. "I'll worry about it later, need to sleep..." I muttered walking over to the couch, grabbing the blanket and laying down.

Bankotsu was about to lay down where he was the night before when Inuyasha pushed him aside, "I'll stay there, you can sleep by the door."

"Oh, you hoping that she'll roll off onto you this time?"

"Shut up! I just don't want her rolling on you, that's all!" He retorted, face flushing red.

"Then why don't you sleep by the desk and I'll sleep by the door, and then she can't roll on anyone?" Bankotsu continued.

Inuyasha went quiet, and finally grabbed up the blanket and laid down next to the couch muttering, "You're stupid, let me sleep."

Bankotsu took a third blanket I'd set out earlier and went over to a clear spot on the floor.

"Goodnight, you two," He said quietly.

"Goodnight," I replied. Then after hearing nothing but silence I reached down and nudged Inuyasha.

"Yeah, yeah...goodnight and stuff," He mumbled before starting to fake snore so I wouldn't make him say anymore.

------------------------------------

It was a little after eleven the next morning when I finally woke up and apparently Inuyasha and Bankotsu were still sleeping.

After carefully stepping over Inuyasha, I decided I'd run home quickly and get some clean clothes and take a well-deserved hot shower. As I was scrawling out a note, I heard Inuyasha stir behind me.

"Where are you going?" He asked sleepily.

"Just going to run home and clean up, you should probably do the same once Bankotsu wakes up."

"I'm up now," Bankotsu said sitting up, "And I should probably do the same."

I realized that meant he'd have to go back to his house, "Will you be okay, Bankotsu?"

He nodded, "I'll deal with it and if you don't mind, I'll go from there to Suikotsu's place. I'll call you once I have a chance to talk with him and Mukotsu."

"All right," I said grabbing up a few things before heading for the door, "Inuyasha, try not to get in a huge fight with your brother again. I don't need you whining while we work on the case this afternoon."

"Hmph," He snorted, crossing his arms, "Then why don't you inform him that it's not nice to screw with the water temperature while someone else is in the shower?"

I laughed a bit, "Like you haven't done the same to him."

"...Whatever," He muttered in reply.

-------------------------------------------

We all went back to our respective houses, Inuyasha and I planning to meet back at the office in about an hour and a half.

As I was trying to turn the key in my door's lock, someone opened it from the inside. It was my little brother.

"Sis, you're home!" He said smiling.

"Hi Souta, is Mama out?"

"Yeah, she is. Where were you the last couple of nights? I know you called and said something about the case you're on. Least that's what Mom told me."

"I stayed at the office with Inuyasha and Bankotsu," I replied, then instantly regretted my choice of words.

Souta grinned, "_With_ Inuyasha? And then another guy too? Sis, I never knew! So who's the other boyfriend?"

Leave it to my brother to always bring my love life up. I decided a quick explanation would be best, "Bankotsu is the client, and he can't go home because it'll upset him because his close friend is missing. Inuyasha stayed because he didn't want me to stay alone with him. Yes, I slept on the couch and they both slept somewhere else in the room- not with me. And now, I'm going to go take a shower.," I finished, turning the corner before he could reply.

I headed up the stairs, watching out for our cat Buyo who was lounging on one of the steps, and went about taking a relaxing shower.

As promised, an hour and a half or so later I headed back to the office. This time, I made sure to take some extra clothes and things with me. When I got there, I ran into Inuyasha as I headed up the stairs.

"Any problems with your half-brother?" I asked on seeing his scowl.

"He was at his office, but Rin left a stupid picture for me."

I smiled, "Well that can't be too bad, I mean..." I stopped as the wadded drawing was shoved into my hands. It was a picture of Inuyasha and I kissing, Rin-style art. I blushed. "I see the issue now."

"Yeah. I just showed you because- well if Rin asked if I did as she asked and you hadn't seen it, she'd get mad and...yeah...stuff like that."

I could tell he was getting embarrassed too, and decided a change of subject would be nice, "So what do you think on all the information we found out about Renkotsu?"

"Don't trust him. Even Bankotsu doesn't and that makes me even more so."

I nodded as I opened the door.

Inside the office, our two other associates were already at work. Sango was by the desk and it looked as if Miroku had just answered the phone.

"Oh, just a second, he's here now," He said to the person on the other end.

"Who is it, Miroku?" I asked as he held the receiver out towards Inuyasha.

"His half-brother."

Inuyasha glared at the receiver then at Miroku.

"Miroku..." He grumbled.

"What? It's just your brother; not my fault he called."

"The phone. It doesn't work, you idiot." He said gesturing to his ears and then to the length of the receiver.

"Oh, sorry. I always forget that," Miroku replied turning and hitting the speaker button.

The calm voice of Sesshoumaru spoke over the line, "Inuyasha, are you and your partner there?"

"Yeah yeah, what do you want?" He retorted.

"Kagura found out something interesting last night, and I think you might want to know about it."

"And what's that?" I asked.

"Rin," He said calmly, and I could hear the little girl stand and walk across the room.

"I'll get her," I heard a knock on a door, before Rin's voice called out, "Miss Kagura! Sesshoumaru needs you to talk to the others now."

A muffled reply came back, "Just a second."

I heard a door open and then the dripping of water. Kagura's voice spoke up, "What is it, Sesshoumaru?"

"Miss Kagura's all wet!" Rin chimed in.

"Well I was in the shower, kid," She remarked.

"Kagura, explain to them about the information you got," Sesshoumaru said as calmly as ever.

Footsteps told me she was walking over, "Sure."

"Want a bigger towel, Miss Kagura? That one's kinda small," Rin questioned.

I blinked. How was it Sesshoumaru remained so calm if Kagura was standing around in only a towel? Talk about self-control.

"What in the hell, Sesshoumaru!" Inuyasha yelled out.

_So he wondered about the towel thing too_, I thought to myself, as he continued.

"When the hell did you get a shower in your office? That's not fair!"

I blanched. Leave it to him to completely ignore the fact a barely clad woman is currently speaking with his brother and wonder about the shower.

"Later, Inuyasha," Sesshoumaru replied coolly, "Kagura?"

"Oh yes. I got a call a little after we split up last night from Musou. He said Naraku was acting really strange. Apparently one minute he was acting fine, and the next he clutched at his head and started freaking out, yelling "Stop it! Stop it!" to someone or something. Musou said he was like a different person completely. I was wondering if you knew anything that might connect with this."

I thought, and then it clicked. Mukotsu's potions were stolen along with a half-made one for Suikotsu.

"I think he might have taken one of Mukotsu's stolen potions."

"Potions?" She asked.

"And since that one was only a half done one for Suikotsu's multiple personality disorder- maybe it's affecting Naraku somehow," I said, thinking to myself, _And if Naraku splits into two personalities, this could get really ugly._

-------------------------------

Preview for Chapter 11:

Naraku's not acting himself, so that might explain where that half-made potion ended up. But can our detectives manage a Naraku that has two sides, or will they have to turn to Suikotsu for help?


	11. Chapter 11

Author's Notes: This chapter was revised on January 24, 2006.

--------------------------------------------

**-June 7th-  
Entry at 12:56PM**

My mind was trying to process the new twist in the case, when I heard Kagura's voice over the phone trying to get my attention.

"Kagome...Kagome?"

I shook myself from my thoughts, "Sorry, what is it?"

"You think Naraku took the potion made for the MIP guy?"

I pondered again and replied, "It's the only explanation I can think of. Mukotsu's potions aren't exactly normal either, so that might explain the reaction to it."

"Can you get Mukotsu to tell you more about what was in this concoction?" Kagura questioned.

I grimaced. If I wanted to get Mukotsu to do something, that meant being called 'sweetheart' and 'lovely lady' for the duration of the conversation with him.

"I suppose our client could get the information from him," I replied, fully hoping I would just have to talk to Bankotsu and he would get the information from Mukotsu.

It was not that I had anything against the guy, it's just his 'pet' names sort of reminded me of an annoying reporter I dealt with a few cases back that kept calling me 'his woman.' I shuddered at the memory, thankful our newer cases had been minor enough to keep him from coming back to interview me.

"Then inquire about the heist as well when you talk to him," Sesshoumaru's calm voice added.

"The heist? Keh, we gave you the report on that," Inuyasha interrupted.

"Your report has discrepancies with the police report," His brother replied.

"It did?" I asked. I was sure that we covered everything very thoroughly.

"The answers Hakushin gave to you and the police were different," He said simply and then I could hear the rustle of papers. "To the question: 'How did they steal it if you were still in the house?' He said in one he was hit, the other said he fainted."

"Well, he told us that he fainted," Inuyasha said firmly.

Kagura spoke up then, "We were thinking since Bankotsu seems to trust you, maybe he could tell you what happened."

"I'll see what I can do, but I don't want to upset him given the present situation," I replied.

"That's all for now. I've just got to finish getting ready and then I'll be at Naraku's this afternoon. I'll check on things there with Jakotsu and whatnot." 

"Okay, thanks Kagura. I'll see what I can do about the heist issue and about the potion."

We said our goodbyes and hung up. I looked around the room and paused, noting the red imprint on Miroku's face. Figuring that he'd upset Sango again while I was concentrating on the conversation, I dismissed it quickly and turned to Inuyasha. He was scowling at the phone with his arms crossed.

When he noticed I was looking at him, he snapped, "What do you want?"

I sighed, "Well if you're in a bad mood, I guess I'll just have to go talk to Mukotsu, Bankotsu and Suikotsu by myself."

His eyes narrowed, and he bolted up, "Fine. I'm coming."

Smirking, I picked up the phone and the paper with Bankotsu's cell phone number on it. I dialed and waited for it to be answered.

"Hello?" The voice said tentatively.

I paused, that sounded like Suikotsu not Bankotsu. "Um, is this Suikotsu?"

"Yes, Bankotsu is helping Mukotsu with something at the moment. Can I help you, Miss?" He said politely. I knew by that he was calmed- for the moment at least.

"This is Kagome, I just needed to talk to him about a few things."

"Oh, Miss Kagome! I thought that was you. Just a moment, I'll go get him," He replied and I could hear his footsteps as he walked.

I heard a muffled voice in the background, "Hey, who is it?"

"It's Kagome," Suikotsu said in return.

There were some shuffling noises and I heard Bankotsu's voice, "Kagome? That you?"

"Hey, just needed to ask a few things, could we come over there?" I figured if I had to deal with Mukotsu a group setting might be best.

"Err...well, in warning Suikotsu's medicine could wear off at any moment. Mukotsu and I were trying to fix something, but he's not sure how strong it'll be," He said warily.

"I think I'll be okay. Inuyasha's coming with me," I responded.

"Didn't figure he'd let you come visit us without coming along," Bankotsu stated matter of factly, "We're at Suikotsu's. Do you remember how to get here?"

"Yeah, I do. We'll be over soon, okay?"

"Okay. Bye," He replied.

"Goodbye, Bankotsu," I said simply before hanging up the phone. Inuyasha was glaring at me.

I was about to say something to him, when Miroku spoke up, "At least she didn't say," He slipped into a falsetto, "Oh sure Bankotsu, I'll be there soon. Love ya too, bye."

As I was about to retort, when a pencil hit Miroku in the back of the head. I looked at Inuyasha, who was facing to the side, trying to look innocent.

"Kagome, we're going. Now," He said flatly.

I shook my head and grabbed up a few things.

"Miroku, Sango- we'll be back later," I called out as the door swung closed.

As we went down the stairs, I heard muttering from next to me.

"Inuyasha, you really shouldn't let Miroku get to you like that."

"Keh. Whatever."

Things went silent, as we reached the car I sighed, "I just want to find Jakotsu and get everything back to normal. It seems like all kinds of bad things keep happening to Bankotsu right now, and well- I want to help him."

At first I didn't think Inuyasha was going to respond, but finally he replied, very quietly.

"That's why I don't want you with him when I'm not there. Please promise me you'll never go anywhere or do anything with that guy unless I'm there."

"And why should I? It's my life" I retorted. I could take care of myself, sheesh.

"Because- well I said 'please' damnit, what more do you want!"

I paused; Inuyasha actually said 'please'? _He must be fairly jealous_, I thought laughing a bit to myself.

"It's not funny!" He yelled back.

"Don't worry. I'll leave Bankotsu to Jakotsu, so stop being jealous."

"Who said I was jealous?" He responded in traditional fashion, then went quiet, "I just don't want...I don't want anything to happen to you..." He trailed off, a light blush on his face.

_He's worried about me?_ I thought to myself pausing as I opened the door to the car.

Coughing as if to diguise his flustered state, he got in the car.

"Oi Kagome? We need to go."

Opening the passenger door, I got in, sat down and turned to him, "I'll be careful, don't worry."

Inuyasha's eyes widened a bit and he just stared at me. Finally he brought himself to talk, "Good."

The drive over to Suikotsu's apartment was silent except for some munching from Inuyasha. Apparently, he'd grabbed a bag of chips on the way out.

I frowned and he tried to mumble something to me with his mouth full, "Wou uant wom?"

"Don't talk with your mouth full," I reprimanded.

He swallowed and stuck the bag towards me, "You didn't eat lunch did you?"

"No," I replied, wondering what he was getting to.

"There. It's not all crumbs," He said forcing the bag into my hands.

I blinked. Okay now he was really acting strange. I decided to try and figure out why, "What's with this sudden worry?"

His face got serious, and I decided to make a special note of this rare expression, "It's like you said. Bankotsu was fine 'til now, and then everything starts going wrong. It just- well, makes you stop and think and... ah forget it, it's stupid," He grumbled, face back to its usual expression.

I smiled, taking a chip from the half-eaten bag, "Thanks, Inuyasha."

We reached the apartment and knocked on the replaced door. I hoped that the inside had been repaired as well since the last time we'd been here.

As we waited, I could hear some voices from inside.

"Hey, get the door," Mukotsu yelled.

"Just a second, I'm in the middle of this game," Bankotsu replied.

"Sorry Mukotsu, I'm in a double player game with him. _And the stupid baka will cheat if I get up_," The two sides of Suikotsu remarked.

Inuyasha knocked again, obviously getting impatient with those inside.

"I swear you two are useless once in front of that TV," Mukotsu grumbled as his footsteps neared the door. I decided it might be best if I moved behind Inuyasha then.

The door swung open, and Mukotsu looked up, "Well if it isn't the lovely Miss Kagome. Do come in," He said standing to allow me in.

I passed by and then he tried to shut the door on Inuyasha. That didn't make him very happy and so I had to turn around and try and keep him calmed down.

That's when I heard Bankotsu's voice from behind me, "Hey Kagome, what's going on?"

I looked over to see that him and Suikotsu were playing some video game and he had currently turned towards me to talk.

Suikotsu was still playing, when he suddenly flung his controller in the air, "_Baka yaro! You have to be cheating! How did your swordsman just kill me when you aren't even watching the screen?_"

Bankotsu grinned and turned back to him, "Because your Daimyou's men can only do two attacks in close range, one from the left and one from the right. If I come from above, I win. It's all strategy, with a little bit of luck."

I smiled; glad to see that he was trying to stay cheerful despite it all.

"So I take it you had a good morning?" I asked tentatively.

He nodded and gestured to Suikotsu, "Been kicking his ass on this Shogun: Feudal War game. It's easy once you pick up the fighting patterns."

"_Kuso, you have to be cheating_," The loser said angrily.

"So what was it you guys needed?" Bankotsu asked standing from his spot on the floor.

"Well, just needed to ask about a few things that's all."

"Like?"

"First, we need to know more about that half-made potion that was stolen from you Mukotsu," I said, turning in the direction of the shorter gang member.

"What for?" He said protectively.

"We think Naraku might have taken it, he randomly started freaking out and screaming at himself the other day," I replied.

"You thinking that it gave him another personality?" Suikotsu questioned standing beside Bankotsu.

"We aren't sure, but this was the first time it's happened that we know of and that potion was one missing."

"Well, I guess I can show you some things about it," Mukotsu said walking towards the kitchen, "Come on now sweetheart, I'll show you what I'm currently cooking up."

I winced, yet forced myself to follow. Inuyasha moved from his spot by the wall to join me.

There was a large black vat of sorts ontop of the stove and the shorter man climbed a stool to reach it.

"Now this is my current mix. It's slightly different from the one stolen, but it's another attempt to fix Suikotsu's problem," He said stirring it a bit.

The bubbling blue-gray water had a horrid smell to it and I wondered how anyone could drink it. "So do you think that if someone took this and they weren't naturally MIP, would it possibly make them so?"

He shrugged, "Don't know for sure, I've never used it on anyone but Suikotsu. But given the uh...special ingredients I sometimes use, I guess someone could react to it."

"What kind of special ingredients?" Inuyasha questioned.

Mukotsu laughed nervously, "Nothing a non-trained scientific ear would understand," He said quickly, "A form of a neuroleptic to be exact. It shouldn't cause any problems unless...wait, do you know if Naraku takes Ritalin or something like it?"

I blinked, "I have no idea."

"Well, sometimes the neuroleptic will react with methylphenidate and cause a psychotic reaction," He stated simply, assuming I understood that gibberish of medicinal terms.

"In English?" Inuyasha asked frowning.

"If Naraku takes a medicine like Ritalin and then took my potion, it's very possible that he'll have negative reaction." Mukotsu said seriously.

"Well there's that explanation, now to resolve the other issue-" I muttered to myself, "Thanks Mukotsu, that's a big help."

"Anything for you, beautiful," He said with a toothy grin. I forced a slight smile in return.

Inuyasha grabbed my arm, practically dragging me back into the main room, "Come on Kagome, you need to talk to Bankotsu too," He ground out.

Upon re-entering the other room, I saw that Bankotsu was still playing a video game with Suikotsu. I was about to ask about the Hakushin heist when my cell phone rang.

I barely got out a hello before Kagura's rushed voice began.

"Kagome, where are all the Kotsu gang members?"

I paused, trying to figure out what was going on, "Bankotsu, Suikotsu and Mukotsu are here and I assume Renkotsu is still with Ginkotsu and Kyoukotsu. Why?" 

"Jakotsu's gone missing, Musou and I can't find him. The room he was in is empty," Her rushed sentence came through.

I tightened my hold on the phone, knowing my facial expression had drawn the attention of the others to me, "What about Naraku?"

"He's saying he didn't do it, he's pissed that he lost his hostage."

"Then who in the..."

She cut me off, "That's what I'd like to know. Is Bankotsu there?"

"Yes, but should you..."

"I need to ask him about the others, and tell him something, if you don't mind," She said, calming down just slightly.

"Okay," I said, looking to Bankotsu and handing him the phone. I guess my face already told a lot of it.

"Something happened to Jakotsu, didn't it?" He asked before taking it. I nodded.

He bit his lip, the happiness of before completely drained from him, "Hello? Yes. Renkotsu's still there, locked in a room to be safe. Yes." I saw him wince, "I see...so he's just…gone completely? That's all then? Damnit. Yeah, I'll check on them all. Bye."

He slowly handed the phone back to me and hung his head. Suikotsu had placed a hand on his friend's shoulder; and before I could say anything, the Kotsu gang leader had turned to cry on Suikotsu's shoulder. This whole situation was tearing him apart, and I was beginning to think that someone had planned it to.   
--------------------------------------

Preview for Chapter 12:

Jakotsu's missing even from Naraku, and every one of the Kotsu gang members was accounted for. Who could be the one who desires Bankotsu's emotional demise so much? And can they find them before things get really bad?


	12. Chapter 12

Author's Notes: This chapter was revised on January 24, 2006.

--------------------------------------------

**-June 7th-  
Entry at 3:12PM**

My mind was desperately trying to piece things together...

_Who would benefit from Bankotsu being an emotional wreck? Who would know to use Jakotsu as a pawn against him? _I kept questioning myself, _Is_ _there someone else? Someone else that we aren't figuring into the situation?  
_  
Mentally, I began to chart things out. Kagura, Musou and Naraku were at the warehouse, but all of them are perplexed as we are as to the disappearance. Bankotsu, Suikotsu and Mukotsu were here when it was discovered he was missing. Supposedly, Ginkotsu, Kyoukotsu and Renkotsu are all at another apartment with Renkotsu locked in a room as a precaution. Who could have done it? Was it Naraku? Or perhaps, after taking that medicine, it could be- Naraku's other side?

"Kagome? Oi Kagome!" Inuyasha's voice brought me out of my thoughts.

"What? What is it?" I asked looking up at him.

"He's going to call up the others now. You should probably listen to the conversation," He said gesturing to Bankotsu.

I looked over to the wall by the phone and saw that Bankotsu had apparently pulled himself together somewhat and was now dialing the phone.

"Hey Ginkotsu, are the others still there? I see, let me talk to Renkotsu. I know, just let me talk to him now," He waited a moment before talking again, "Renkotsu, I want you to answer me this question straight. I don't want any more lies or anything, just a straight answer. Was there anyone besides you involved with this mess with Jakotsu? I know Naraku is. Yes, and the two working for him. Is there anyone else? Are you sure? You better hope you aren't lying to me about this," He said angrily. I saw him take a deep breath, "Fine, that's all. Bye."

The phone was slammed down and Bankotsu turned to me. "They are all there... Only Jakotsu is missing right now." He added sadly.

"I see- then my only guess is that Naraku must have taken that medicine and therefore forgot that he did something with Jakotsu when in another personality. If that's the case, Jakotsu's probably still somewhere in Naraku's warehouse complex. But as to where, or the condition he's in- we just can't know," I said quietly in summary.

"Do you think that the heist is really that important?" Bankotsu asked.

I nodded, "Something involving that heist is the key to it all. As to what, I'm not sure, but Naraku wants something that he thinks you have and you claim to have only taken money."

"I'll tell you what I know then. Throw me in jail for stealing, breaking and entering or whatever else- just get Jakotsu out of that bastard's hands and I'll do whatever you want me to," He said firmly, his face completely serious.

"I won't put you in jail and any charges that could be brought against you will easily be waved if you help us take Naraku down. Right now, I just want to do what I can to help you find Jakotsu. I mean that Bankotsu, you can trust me," I replied; I wanted him to know that I was on his side, even if no one else was.

"Just talk, and we'll try and see if it helps out the case any. Don't worry about that other stuff," Inuyasha added.

I turned towards him, surprised.

"What?" He retorted to my expression.

"Thank you for understanding, Inuyasha," I said with a smile.

"Keh. Let's just get this over with," He replied, crossing his arms.

Bankotsu's disheartened face lightened a bit then and he went to the couch and sat down.

"You already have the details on the basics of the heist, right?" He asked.

"Yes, I know the date, the time, and where it happened. Along with what we were able to gather from what Hakushin told us, but according to Sesshoumaru…that's not exactly reliable. If you could just tell me what happened from your perspective, it might bring up something that we're missing."

He nodded and began. Suikotsu and Mukotsu stood nearby, watching as the conversation proceeded.

"It started when Naraku sent us a message via his agent Musou in regards to having us work for him. It was a simple deal. We did the dirty work, stole the money and in return he would create a diversion for us so the cops wouldn't track us. All we were supposed to do was go in, steal the money from Hakushin's safe, and give twenty percent of the goods to Naraku. It seemed simple, so we agreed to the deal. I have no idea what kind of diversion Naraku planned, but his only other request was that we didn't kill or get Hakushin out of the house, but that we somehow stole everything while he was still in the house. That was easy, a simple type of sleeping gas of sorts was used and we got in, got the money and got out."

"What about anything else? Was the money all you took?" I questioned.

"I gave strict instructions to all my men to only take money. That's what Naraku told us, so I didn't want to risk anything else. And considering the amount of money we were getting, bothering with anything else was a waste of time," He replied.

_Is that what Suikotsu was talking about? That gold ring- he didn't want Bankotsu to know about it. Did he take that ring from Hakushin's against Bankotsu's instructions? And how was it Jakotsu was involved with the ring? What promise did him and Suikotsu have? And if so- is that ring what Naraku wants?_ I thought to myself before asking another question, "Do you think that the reason Naraku wanted Hakushin still in the house yet unconscious was that this heirloom was on Hakushin's person himself, leaving him open after you and your men left to go in and steal it himself?"

Bankotsu hung his head, "I never even considered that. I know that the request to steal it while he was in the house was indeed strange, but I just figured it was Naraku's way of testing to see if we were worth his trouble. But even if that was the case, I didn't take anything but money from that house and given that this whole matter with Jakotsu has arisen, I'm sure if any of the others took this heirloom they would have told me by now."

"Do you know what this heirloom is?" I asked, gold ring in mind.

"I have no idea. Although, I'm guessing it was something small that Naraku didn't think we'd try and take. Anything big and flashy he might have thought we'd steal even when the instructions said only take money."

I glanced up at Suikotsu then, noticing the look on his face. He was thinking the same as I was. That ring must be the heirloom and neither Jakotsu nor Naraku knew where it was at because we had it.

But why then would Jakotsu tell Naraku he knew nothing about it? Did he not know the heirloom was the ring either? Or is there something else I'm still missing here?

"Kagome, can I speak with you?" Suikotsu said motioning towards the kitchen.

I nodded and followed him. I guess he felt the situation warranted giving me more information about this ring. And much like I'd suspected, that was indeed the case.

"About that ring..."

"Yes?"

"I don't know for sure where it came from or much anything else about it. I just know, when I saw Jakotsu with it once, he begged me not to tell Bankotsu. That's all I know, I'm sorry."

"Was it stolen from Hakushin?" I questioned, figuring I might as well try to see if he knew anything else.

"I'm not sure if it was or not. He told me about it when I was highly medicated, so I can't remember it well."

"If you do remember anything else, please let us know."

"I will," He replied and turned to go back into the other room.

_So the ring was Jakotsu's not Suikotsu's..._ I wracked my mind, trying to lay the facts out straight.

_Naraku was after an heirloom that apparently was missing after the Kotsu gang heist from Hakushin's home. To Bankotsu's knowledge, they took nothing but money. Then, we found a gold ring in the same location Jakotsu was taken from. But Jakotsu, even under brutal interogation, never once suggested that the heirloom was the ring. Renkotsu had helped Naraku capture Jakotsu, but he claims it was only because Naraku had asked him. Supposedly, he later tried to go in and save Jakotsu only to get shot in the arm. Suikotsu, the other suspect, has been having medication problems. Aside from Jakotsu, he's the only one of the gang that knows about the golden ring. But in the case of Jakotsu's current disappearance, Suikotsu was with us at the time.  
_  
Thinking it over, it was clear we were missing something. _What about those letters from X? Is that what's missing?  
_  
I heard footsteps enter the kitchen and a voice spoke up, "Did you need to interrogate me in private too, Miss Kagome?"

I looked down, and sure enough there was Mukotsu smiling up at me with a toothy grin.

"Eheh...no, not today Mukotsu; but I'll let you know if I do need to ask you anything," I replied, slowly edging my way around to the doorway back into the living room area.

"We should probably get back to going over the clues so far, right Kagome?" Bankotsu questioned as I reentered the room.

"Yes, I would like to sit down and review things so far. There's some aspect that's missing and perhaps it's just something we've overlooked until now. You can stay here with your friends a bit longer if you want to, Bankotsu."

He forced a smile then, "No, I want to help all I can. But I have a favor to ask first."

Inuyasha's eyes narrowed, "What kind of favor?"

"Can uh- " He scratched the back of his head, "Can we stop somewhere to eat? I'm kind of hungry."

"Um...sure," I said while placing a hand on Inuyasha's shoulder to keep him from getting upset again.

We left then from the apartment and headed towards a nearby diner.

On the way there, I figured we should try and call Sesshoumaru back about the heist and Kagura back about the location of the other Kotsu gang members.

I dialed up Sesshoumaru's agency first and an answering machine picked up.

"This is the Taiyoukai Detective Agency. If you have a case you'd like us to handle, please leave a message after the tone," The bubbly voice of Rin said on the recording.

I put the phone next to Inuyasha's mouth. 

"Just tell them they can call us about the heist information and all the Kotsu gang members are accounted for," I whispered to him.

"Why do I have to talk to the stupid machine?" He retorted.

"It's your brother."

"Don't remind me," He said glaring. Then he heard the 'beep' for the message, and reluctantly spoke. "Hey stupid, we got that information you were too lazy to get yourself about the heist and tell your girlfriend that works for Naraku that all the gang members are accounted for."

I frowned as I hit the 'end' button. "You could have been a bit more professional about that, you know."

"Keh, my brother isn't worth the trouble," He muttered as he pulled the car into the local diner's parking lot.

At first, the three of us sat there in complete silence, Inuyasha quickly emptying his plate and Bankotsu picking at his.

I could tell he was too upset to eat, but I knew he was hungry. "Bankotsu, would you like some of my mozzarella sticks, I'm getting full," I offered.

He nodded quietly and picked up one from the plate. Placing it between his lips, he froze in thought, not eating it just yet.

Inuyasha scowled, "Okay, that just looks wrong..." He grumbled.

Bankotsu defiantly took a bite and with a smirk replied; "I could say the same of your method of eating corn on the cob, Inuyasha."

Ears twitching and face reverting back to his scowl, Inuyasha quickly pulled the corn out of his mouth and glared. "Then how else am I supposed to eat the pieces on the top of it?"

A slight laugh escaped Bankotsu's throat, "Still as touchy as always."

"Bankotsu, I was wondering is there anything we can do to cheer you up?" I asked with a smile.

"Just keep helping me look for Jakotsu, that's enough for me," He responded matter of factly.

The table went quiet for a bit as we finished off our meal. Once it seemed we were all done, Inuyasha stood to leave.

"Okay, let's go."

"Wait just a minute," Bankotsu called out, halting both of our movements as we turned back towards him.

"What is it?" I inquired.

"I wanted dessert," He replied with a hint of a child-like grin.

Inuyasha made a big production of sighing loudly and plopping back down into the booth. "Fine, whatever. Let's just get you your stupid dessert so we can go."

After ordering some ice cream for the Kotsu gang leader and paying the bill we returned to the office and began to sift through the clues.

_A gold ring, a piece of torn white fabric, and two mysterious notes._ I mentally listed. Only four tangible clues, two of which we weren't even certain connected with this case at all.

"Bankotsu, can you remember what color shirt Renkotsu was wearing that night when you spoke with him in the alley?" I questioned.

"It was white," He said with a perplexed look as to why I'd asked that.

_Okay, as I suspected. The fabric was probably torn from Renkotsu's shirt, that means he struggled with Jakotsu a bit before effectively getting him unconscious and going to Naraku. In the struggle, it's very possible that Jakotsu dropped the ring and then it was stepped on, causing it to be submerged in the mud there. That explains those two clues clearly, but as to if the ring was the heirloom Naraku sought or not, it's uncertain at this time.  
_  
"You know- we never did get around to listening to that tape Bankotsu originally got of him talking with Renkotsu," Inuyasha said pulling the tape from the desk drawer.

"He just lied about the situation anyways. All he said to me then was lies," Bankotsu remarked bitterly.

"Still, there might be something else he said that can help. It's worth a try and we're running out of options," I said in reply, walking over and pressing the button.

The tape began simply, Bankotsu asking Renkotsu basic questions about the night of disappearance.

"Renkotsu, are you sure there wasn't anything strange that happened?" Bankotsu's shaky voice on the tape asked.

"I told you what I know," Renkotsu replied simply.

"Damnit, where the hell is he?" The voice cursed in reply.

The tape went quiet for a bit before Renkotsu spoke again, "Bankotsu, I know this must be very hard on you. I know you two were very close, so if you want me to I can handle the Leader's duties until we find Jakotsu so as to not burden you further."

"That won't be necessary..." Bankotsu responded.

I stood and walked over, stopping the tape.

"Kagome?" Inuyasha questioned.

"Is it possible that whoever set this up with Jakotsu isn't after the heirloom?" I pondered aloud.

"What do you mean?" Bankotsu inquired.

"What if it's all a façade to get the position of Leader by using Jakotsu's disappearance to get you to willingly back down?"

"You think that it's about my rank?" He said standing.

"If Jakotsu was missing, they knew you'd become emotionally unstable- and if offered in a friendly manner to help you, they thought you'd let them step in as Leader."

"You mean, Renkotsu?" Inuyasha asked.

I nodded and continued, "But as that tape proves, you turned that down and so that plan didn't work. You weren't upset enough to let someone else take your position, so..."

"So all they had to do was make Jakotsu disappear for good," My partner finished.

"And then I'd be such a wreck, that I'd let them take my position for the best of the gang," Bankotsu said quietly.

"Precisely. There's more to this case than Naraku wanting that heirloom. The member of the gang Jakotsu was trying to warn us about is none other than Renkotsu. He wanted your position, was trying to use your emotional instability to get it, and when that didn't work, he made the situation get worse so you would cave in. Naraku is trying to use Jakotsu against you, but Renkotsu is trying to use Naraku to cover his plan to overthrow your rank."

"But- he was locked in the room when Jakotsu disappeared from the warehouse," Bankotsu said perplexed.

"I know," I said turning to him, "That's the only slight flaw in my deduction, but I'm sure that there's some explanation for that as well. The question now is: does Renkotsu have someone else working on his side? Perhaps, someone that would benefit from him becoming the Kotsu gang Leader?"

"I can't think of anyone," The current Leader said, slumping back down on the couch, "But if Renkotsu has done anything at all to Jakotsu, I'll kill him for it."

And judging by the tone he said that in, I knew, Bankotsu seriously meant what he said.  
--------------------------------------------

Preview for Chapter 13:

Kagome's onto Renkotsu's supposed plot to overthrow Bankotsu as Leader, but who is it that's helping him out? And can they find Jakotsu before things get any more complicated?


	13. Chapter 13

Author's Notes: This chapter was revised on January 24, 2006.

--------------------------------------------

**-June 7th-  
Entry at 9:52PM**

Silence hung in the air and I could feel the tension rising. It had been a long, very stressful day and we were still no where close to figuring out where Jakotsu was, or the condition he was in.

"Bankotsu, do you think it would be okay if I had Inuyasha talk to Renkotsu tomorrow?" I asked quietly.

"Hey! Why do I have to talk to him?" Inuyasha spluttered as he stood up.

"Because I'm not a female gang member and he might notice that," I retorted, eyes narrowed in irritation.

"Oh yeah. That," He mumbled, finally remembering the little stunt Kagura and I had pulled.

Bankotsu looked up and quietly replied, "It shouldn't be a problem at all. I would go tonight, but I'm not in the mood to deal with him now."

"That's understandable. Why don't we all just call it night for now and get up a bit earlier tomorrow to handle things?" I suggested, hoping a good night's rest might clear my muddled thoughts enough to figure out the missing piece to the puzzle.

"Okay," Bankotsu consented, walking over and picking up one of the blankets from the arm of the couch. He was just about to lie down, when he paused. "You have a fan in here? It's kind of hot."

"Um... we haven't been able to afford one yet," I said, laughing a bit nervously to myself.

"Oh, that's all right," He shrugged, pulling off the blue shirt he'd worn over his tank top.

Inuyasha glared, "I'm not going to let you sleep in the nude."

Bankotsu quirked an eyebrow, then asked with a smirk, "Afraid you won't measure up?"

"No! It's just I don't want you to- so there!" He retorted, pulling off his shirt defiantly. Turning back to Bankotsu to taunt him some more, Inuyasha found that the Kotsu gang leader was looking off out the window.

"Looks like we're in for another summer storm. The humidity just confirms it," He said quietly before pulling his eyes away from the darkened skyline.

"Yeah, the weather forecast said we might get a front in tonight and tomorrow," I remarked after a moment.

"I hope he's not out in this weather then..." Bankotsu whispered before lying down and rolling over onto his side. It was then I noticed that Jakotsu's hairpin was clasped tightly in his hand.

I sighed quietly to myself. It had been three days since Bankotsu last saw him and I was already fearing that this whole thing was going to have a huge mental impact on both Bankotsu and Jakotsu. We needed to find him soon, before things got any worse.

After watching to see that Inuyasha had gotten to sleep okay, I curled up on the couch and was just about to doze off when I heard a phone ringing quietly. I peaked open one eye and saw Bankotsu digging around in his shirt pocket for his cell phone.

"Hello?" He questioned. "Ah, hey, just a second."

Standing quietly, he looked around to see if he'd disturbed Inuyasha or me, and I quickly feigned sleep to put him at ease. He walked quietly out the door and shut it softly. Once I was certain he would notice me following, I stood and went over; pressing my ear against the door to listen in.

"Okay Musou, what's going on? You got it set up? Really? And you've already called up the others? Uh huh, what about Renkotsu? Oh, Ginkotsu's going to stay with him? Okay. What street are we meeting at again? 71st? Right, I'll be there as soon as I can get there. And Kagura's gonna keep Naraku out of the way? Great. I'm headed that way now. Bye."

I peered out through the crack in the doorway and saw him shoot a glance back at the door before muttering, "Sorry guys, but I can't wait any longer." With that said, he turned and started down the stairs.

I hesitated a moment, then I quietly went and pulled my jacket off the back of the desk chair and grabbed the gun from the drawer. On instinct, I picked up the dog whistle and put the chain it was attached to around my neck.

"Sorry Inuyasha, but I've got to do something to help them," I said stopping to pull a blanket up over his sleeping figure. As I was just about to close the door, I thought I heard him move; but with a shrug I dismissed it and raced off to follow Bankotsu.

Reaching the front doors to the building, I saw Bankotsu's retreating figure as it turned the corner two blocks up and hastily ran after him. I knew 71st street wasn't that far away and so if I kept up with him I could find out easily what was going on.

He paused briefly at a convenience store and I started hoping that this wasn't some robbery of sorts. To my relief, he came back out, a glass bottle gripped in his left hand and a bag in his right; then he continued towards 71st street.

As he arrived at the corner to the darkened alleyway, I could hear some familiar voices from the area.

"_Kuso, why is he taking so long?_ Hush. I just hope he's okay."

"He might have had to wait for lovely Miss Kagome and that other detective to go to sleep."

I waited for Bankotsu to go into the alley and then went and catiously looked around the corner.

"Yo kid, what took ya so long?" A brown haired man with shoulder length hair commented. I figured this was Musou.

"Sorry guys, stopped to get some drinks," Bankotsu replied, holding up the bag.

Suikotsu was the first to reach in and pull something out. "Ooooh, Sunkist. Thanks Bankotsu."

"I knew you wouldn't want any caffeine if they had the Sunkist back in stock."

The others each pulled out various beverages until there was just one remaining in the bag.

"Who's that one for?" Musou asked.

Bankotsu smiled weakly, "Bad habit I guess. I got two root beers- one for me and one for..."

Suikotsu placed a hand on his shoulder, "Well we can give it to him when we get him out of there then."

A tinge of hope made it's way into Bankotsu's smile as he replied, "Right."

"Or you can just give it to her," Musou said calmly, pointing in my direction.

I quickly pressed myself back against the wall and hoped that they didn't come to inspect the area.

"Who?" I heard Suikotsu's voice ask.

"Ah, just that main girl detective you've been hanging out with, Bankotsu. She's trying to hide behind that wall."

My eyes narrowed and I frowned. I was starting to not like this Musou guy very much at all.

I could heard footsteps coming closer and I really had no choice but to wait or run.

"See," He remarked, tugging me back around the corner with him.,"This pretty girl's that detective right?" Musou asked the others.

"Kagome, what are you doing here? Is everything all right?" Bankotsu questioned, his eyes telling me that he already suspected why I was there.

I hung my head, "Sorry Bankotsu, I didn't mean to pry, but I overheard the conversation on the phone and I thought I could at least help."

"So you ditched Inuyasha back at the office then, didn't you?" He asked.

I nodded in reply. 

"Well then, you guys mind having another person tag along? We might need her deduction skills."

"Fine with me," Suikotsu remarked.

I felt someone looming above me and looked up to see the large figure of Kyoukotsu, crunching away at something, "S'okay with me."

"And I'll protect her from any harm that might befall us," Mukotsu added, scooting closer to me.

_Great._ _I'm with a bunch of weirdos_, I thought to myself.

"Plus, it'll give her a chance to demonstrate her detective skills," Musou said, walking towards me, "Name's Musou, Miss. Pleased to me you."

"Oh, hello," I extended a hand which he shook, "I figured that's who you were."

"You know," He continued, squinting closely at me, "You remind me of someone, can't remember who though...oh well. Anyways, let's go over this plan once again so we all know what's going on."

"Okay guys listen up," Bankotsu said, sitting his empty bottle down.

"Here's the plan: We go down to the warehouses and wait in a nearby alley. I'll text message Kagura to make sure she's gotten Naraku away from where we're going and then we'll head in. We'll go to the room where we'd been keeping Jakotsu, look for any signs as to where he might be, hopefully find him and get out," Musou summarized.

The four Kotsu gang members nodded their heads in understanding, and I did as well.

"You going to be able to run in those heels, Kyoko?"

"Ehh...my name's Kagome."

"Oh sorry about that. I'm horrible with names," Musou replied with a shrug, pulling off his white shirt slinging it over his shoulder. "Jeez it's hot in this city."

"You're not from around here?" I questioned. It was always like this in early June.

"Oh, I was...just remembering what it was like in my childhood town," He said, looking off nonchalantly.

I figured he was covering his identity and so I reassured him, "It's okay, Kagura already mentioned to me you're from a rival gang to Naraku's working undercover."

"She did? Well whatdya know... Yeah, I travel quite a bit with my position being what it is."

_Position?_ I thought to myself. Maybe it was a stretch, but I was beginning to wonder if Musou was part of the Mafia or something-sort of an organized crime ring. I shook it from my head. My job wasn't to figure out Musou, it was to find Jakotsu and try and get Naraku in jail on a legitimate charge.

"We ready for this?" Bankotsu asked the group with a smirk.

"Yup," Mukotsu replied.

"Count us in," Suikotsu spoke up for both of his sides.

"Sure," I replied with a smile.

Then we just heard a loud crunch and we turned to Kyoukotsu.

"Is that something from the garbage?" I stammered, glad I didn't eat that much for dinner.

"Kyoukotsu, you idiot. We'll eat later!" Mukotsu reprimanded him.

"Well he's a lively one," Musou said with a laugh.

Kyoukotsu finished eating whatever it was, and spoke up, "Yeah, I'm in."

"Okay then, let's head out," Bankotsu said, taking on the natural leader position easily, and directing through the back-alleys and dark streets of the sleeping city.

---------------------------------  
It was hard to keep up with those so accustomed to running in and out of cars and through the alleys. I know I tripped a couple of times- after which, Mukotsu or Musou gladly helped me up. It looked like I was going to have two unwanted protectors for this little mission.

Finally, we reached the alley we were instructed to wait in. Musou pulled out his cell phone and sent the message to Kagura; then we waited for her response.

I noticed Musou looking questioningly off down the alley, narrowing his eyes as if trying to make out something.

"What is it?" I whispered to him.

"I think someone was following us, Kasumi."

"It's Kagome."

"Oh sorry."

"Following us? But who?"

"Dunno, could just be a deliveryman for the warehouses over there though. Whoever it was had a hat on, so that's most likely it."

He paused then and pulled out his ringing cell phone. "Hmm...was one the signal for all clear or was that two?" Musou murmured to himself.

Bankotsu narrowed his eyes, "You better make sure before we go in there."

Musou scratched his head, "I could have sworn I would remember something like this. Huh? What's this?" He squinted at something written on his arm. "Oh look, I wrote it here so I wouldn't forget. See?"

He stuck his arm into Bankotsu's face, pointing to the scrawled handwriting on it.

"Lovely. But I can't read your writing worth shit," Bankotsu remarked, obviously irritated.

"Hmm, I think it says one is all clear- or is that a seven? Can't tell..."

Mukotsu walked over and examined the text. "One is all clear, two is wait a little while and I'll get him further away, three is not yet and four is Naraku's being an ass give me an hour."

"You can read that?" Musou questioned, apparently unable to decipher his own handwriting.

"As a true connoisseur of the medicinal arts, you must learn to read the most scrawled and deformed writing patterns," Mukotsu said proudly.

"So it said one, right Musou?" Bankotsu asked, standing up from his seat on the ground.

"Huh? What did?"

"The message from Kagura. What number did it say?"

"Oh, yeah it said one," Musou said, still seeming partially confused.

"Then we're supposed to go in now," Bankotsu stated, as he headed towards the warehouse.

"Ah, that's right. Okay it's this way," He replied, leading us towards the proper doors.

"It's got a keyed in password Musou, please tell me you remember it," The Kotsu gang leader asked, his patience wearing thin.

"Nope. Don't remember it at all."

"I can break the door down," Kyoukotsu offered.

The rest of us just stood there- all about to strangle Musou into remembering.

"But, I do have it written down somewhere," He said proudly, beginning to look at the various scribbles on his arms and legs.

When he started to unzip his black shorts, I decided to shift my vision elsewhere.

"Musou, what in the hell?" Suikotsu exclaimed as quietly as he could given the situation.

"What? It's not on my leg, it must be on my thigh."

"We need to hurry," Bankotsu muttered with a sigh.

"Oh, there it is! See there's the password right there."

"_Baka! I don't want to look at your crotch!_ Um...pardon my asking, but doesn't it chafe to go commando like that?"

I just stood with my back to them, cursing my curiosity that got me into this in the first place.

"Okay, door's open," I heard Musou say as someone tapped my shoulder.

"I hope you're talking about the one to the warehouse," I retorted.

"Yeah," Musou laughed, "Come on. We don't have much time."

I turned slowly; making sure that Musou was indeed clad before opening my eyes completely. Then with a relieved sigh, I followed them into the building. We quietly walked down halls and in between crates and boxes, finally we stopped at a metal door. Musou took out a key from his pockets, and unlocked it.

"He was in here. Then, he just disappeared. Only Kagura, Naraku and I have a key, and that door back there," He said pointing to one across the room, "Was bolted with that wooden bar from the inside as well as having a lock on the outside of it."

I looked over to see that Bankotsu's face had gotten very serious, his eyes scouring the dark room for anything at all.

"Okay, look around for anything that seems out of place. Don't move it or touch it until I see it first though," I said, hoping that we might get a clue this way.

They all nodded and went about looking for things. Meanwhile, I went over and examined the other door to the room.

"Oi Kodachi, I think I found something."

"It's Kagome," I muttered more in instinct now than in correcting nature while walking over to where he pointed at the floor.

There were tiny shreds of purple fabric lying there along with some bloodstains.

"Those weren't there the other day. I would have noticed it." Musou noted.

I heard Bankotsu walk over and his saddened voice spoke up, "That was the color of the tank top Jakotsu was wearing."

I bit my lip, noting how much blood seemed to be smeared onto the concrete floor. Then I noticed something, the bloodstains made a somewhat shaky path across the floor. I started to follow it, and as I suspected, they led to the other door. I stood and looked closer at the frame.

"Kagome?" Bankotsu asked quietly, "What happened to him?"

I pointed to the doorframe. "There's also blood here. Whoever took him must have carried him out this door, leaving the blood smeared here as well."

"But that door had the wooden bar in place," Musou stated, walking over.

I looked all around the door. The whole scenario making itself clear to me as I took in a few things. "There's a strand of white thread here. Apparently they used a string to lift the wooden bar up from the other side of the door."

Everyone looked at me perplexed, so I explained.

"The key hole was probably picked from the outside, then, they used this small bullet hole here to stick the string through. With a loop on the other end of it, the string was lowered and used to move the wooden bar up just enough to get the door open and sneak in. Then, something happened to Jakotsu, during which he was either given new wounds or his old ones were reopened. The first is more likely, given the shreds of clothing. After Jakotsu was to the point he couldn't struggle, the intruder lifted his limp arms around their shoulder and they went out the door. Jakotsu's arm smearing blood onto the doorframe as he passed."

"So he's severely hurt and missing..." Bankotsu concluded quietly.

"Wait, there's something stuck over here," Musou said, pointing to something in the corner. It was stuck back behind several heavy crates, and so we started to move them from the area.

Just as we were about to get to the item, I froze. I smelled smoke, and it was coming from somewhere nearby.

"Guys, what's burning?" Suikotsu questioned as well.

It was then that I noticed the flames beginning to emerge from the air vent in the ceiling.

"Shit! We've got to get out of here!" Bankotsu yelled grabbing my arm and one of Suikotsu's and heading for the door we entered from.

Right as we were a few feet away, the door slammed shut; trapping us inside with the fire.

I could barely make out a muffled voice from the other side, "Did you find your clues detective? Well then, you and the clues can both disappear together with the rest of them."

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Preview for chapter 14:

Kagome's trapped, and the suspect they've been after is right outside as the fire consumes the small room. Can Kagome, Musou and the Kotsu gang members escape? Is there help on the way?


	14. Chapter 14

Author's Notes: This chapter was revised on January 24, 2006.

--------------------------------------------

**-June 8th-**

**Entry at 12:21AM**

I pressed against the locked door in a futile attempt to open it, earning myself nothing but the ability to hear the voice from the other side a tiny bit better.

"Oh and don't worry _dear_ Leader. I'm sure someone will be around to pick up the pieces after you fall apart," The smug voice intoned, followed by a deep-haunting laugh that echoed off the warehouse's metallic and concrete walls and floors.

Bankotsu's fist impacted beside me against the doorframe. "What the hell do you want from me?" He seethed, his voice sounding so furious it was foreign to my ears.

"The heirloom, the money, the satisfaction of seeing your face in agonizing pain- any of those would suit me fine. Then again, so would finding your burnt dead body on the other side of this door along with that bitch of a detective."

I took a deep breath, smoke beginning to cause my eyes to tear and my lungs to struggle in their normal task. Looking over my shoulder, I saw that Musou was working with Kyoukotsu and Suikotsu in trying to pry the other door open as the flames poured in from the air vent above us. Mukotsu stood below Bankotsu and I, slowly trying to wedge the bolts from the door-hinges.

It was then that I noticed Musou walk up behind me.

"What is it?" I asked.

"They got the other door blocked as well. It's a trap, all around."

I frowned, trying to think of something...anything that we could do to get out.

"What do you have against me and Jakotsu?" Bankotsu's angered voice demanded, drawing my attention back to the locked door.

"You're a reckless little boy, Bankotsu. A boy, who should never get as much power as he has and should know when he's out of his league. It was right time that someone came along and knocked you back down a few notches. Power's for those that know how to use it, not some sentimental brat," The voice sneered.

"You bastard! Why are you doing this to me?" His body had begun to shake, and I knew it wasn't from the smoke and flames. If I was correct in my deduction, I knew who was the one outside that door, even though I couldn't explain how they got there; and knowing that explained Bankotsu's condition completely.

"You're an obstacle to me. It's that simple. You see..." The voice paused, and then I could make out the sound of his fleeting footsteps. Apparently something or someone had caused him to leave in haste.

At the thought that another person was out there, my hand drifted to the dog-whistle that hung around my neck.

_"Well, it might be him; if he followed us. Then again, it could be Naraku or Kagura or someone else,"_ I shrugged, unless it was Inuyasha, no one would hear the whistle anyways, so it's not like it would hurt to try; and given the situation, it was about the only option we had left.

I lifted the whistle to my lips and blew, hoping that it was Inuyasha and that he had some way to get us out before the flames claimed the entire room and us with it.

As I waited for any sign of him, I noticed Musou frantically dialing his cell phone.

"Kagura? Kagura- we're in the room but someone trapped us in here and set fire to it. He what? Just now?"

"What's going on?" I asked seeing the perplexed look on Musou's face.

He coughed a bit, the smoke getting thicker, before replying, "Naraku just dropped to his knees and grabbed his head. Started screaming "Stop it" out of nowhere."

I was about to say something in return, when I heard a pounding on the door and a familiar voice from the other side.

"Kagome! Are you in there? Kagome!"

I rushed over and yelled back, "Inuyasha? Is that you?"

"Yeah, give me a damn second; I've almost got this stupid thing out of the way of the door," He replied, obviously trying to move whatever it was that blocked our escape.

I covered my mouth with my hand, the heat and smoke were taking their toll on my body and I'm sure the others were feeling just as lightheaded as I.

"Kagome, I said I was coming, just calm down," Inuyasha yelled at me.

"I know that," I replied, wondering why he seemed to snap at me suddenly like that.

"He's back now? Are you sure?" I heard Musou question Kagura over the phone

"Kyoukotsu, come over here and help," Mukotsu called back to the towering figure.

He nodded simply and walked over to help the shorter gang member with the door.

"Okay, call back in a bit. Bye Kagura."

After putting the phone back in his pocket, Musou joined Kyoukotsu, Mukotsu and Suikotsu in the attempt to push on the inside of the door. I helped as best I could and with Inuyasha apparently pulling on the outside, the door finally snapped open.

We all staggered out, taking in breaths of air that had yet to fall victim to the smoke. I looked about, realizing that Bankotsu hadn't seemed present for a few moments. Gazing back into the dark, flame engulfed room; I spotted him crouching in the corner where Musou had seen something earlier.

"Bankotsu! Bankotsu come on!" Suikotsu yelled back to him.

Against my body's cries of protest, I ran back into the flames towards the figure.

"Kagome! What in the hell are you doing?" I heard Inuyasha yell from behind me as I quickly made my way around the fallen beams and smoldering boxes.

Coughing as my lungs heaved for air, I noticed Bankotsu holding something wadded in a ball in his hands.

"Bankotsu, we need to get out of here," I managed to stammer out.

"It's his shirt. Jakotsu's purple shirt- covered in blood. ... his blood," The quiet and shaky voice murmured.

I tugged at his arm, "Please, Bankotsu. We need to get out of here."

I knew he was hurting, badly; but sitting in here and burning to death wasn't going to help anything.

He looked up at me, his eyes looking so lost that it simply tore at my heart.

I didn't know what to say or do, but the feeling of the fire beginning to prick my skin brought the realization of where we were back in full force.

Another futile tug at his arm produced no results and I was just about to call for help when I felt two arms wrap around me from behind.

"Kagome, I'm getting you out of this even if I have to carry you, damnit," Inuyasha stated firmly as he picked me up into his arms.

"Wait, we can't leave Bankotsu!" I said, trying to get him to release me.

"I'll take care of him."

I looked up to see Musou standing there, clothing hanging about him in shreds due to the fire's lashes at it.

"Go on detectives, I'll handle him," He added flashing a grin and stooping to lift the disoriented gang leader into his arms.

I squinted against the sparks, as the entire room seemed to collapse about us. Figuring the place was all doomed to destruction, all of us made our way back outside and a few alleys away for safety.

"That was just too close," Mukotsu sighed.

Kyoukotsu nodded in agreement as he munched on some unknown object.

As Inuyasha sat me down, I could feel the grime of the ashes all over my hands. After seeing how much ash was on my arms alone, I dreaded to see what the rest of me looked like. Then again, everyone else seemed to be in similar conditions.

The ringing of Musou's cell phone drew my attention in his direction, and I instantly regretted it. Apparently between there and here, what remained of Musou's clothing had almost all burned off, leaving just a few scraps of what used to be his shorts.

He answered the phone as if his lack of attire was commonplace, but I could tell he was clutching what seemed to be something silver in a brown wallet in his left hand somewhat protectively. I tried to get a better look, but hearing his conversation stopped me for the moment.

"Hello? Oh, he's back to normal? Okay. What? The sprinkler system had been shut off? Figures. Did you get it back on? Good, so it's getting the fire out? I understand I'll get back there once I work out a few things here. Bye."

"Bankotsu? Bankotsu are you all right?" Suikotsu questioned, kneeling beside the huddled figure.

I was about to walk over and attempt to talk to him as well, when Inuyasha grabbed my upper arm.

"What?" I said, trying to sound innocent. His expression read like a book and I knew he was upset about what had happened.

"One, don't run off without me, got that? Two, I told you it would be dangerous, so there. And three, when you blow the damned whistle- you only have to blow it once, okay?"

I was about to defend myself in regards to the first two statements, but the third caught me off guard, "But...I only blew it once, Inuyasha. What are you talking about?"

"Don't you give me that; I heard it twice- clearly. About a minute apart. I was already at the door; you knew that so there was no reason to blow it again."

I blinked, "I didn't blow it twice, I swear."

"Kagome, who else would be in that warehouse that would be blowing a dog whistle?"

"I...I don't know."

The whole group went silent for a while, until Inuyasha spoke again.

"Hmph, well if you don't go off and make me worry like that then it won't be a problem. Jeez, Kagome- that had to be one of the stupidest things you could do. I mean infiltrating Naraku's place with one of his employees and some gang members isn't the best thing for a detective to do, you know."

If it hadn't been for the fact that I caught that little tinge of worry in his spiel, I would have been upset at him for not trusting me, but I figured Inuyasha accidentally admitting he was worried would satisfy me for the moment.

"Come on kid, pull yourself together," I heard Musou's voice say quietly, causing me to divert my attention to the group that now stood about Bankotsu's form.

I slowly walked over and stood beside the others.

"Bankotsu, come on, let's at least get you somewhere inside," Suikotsu said, noting the building storm clouds overhead.

The only reply from the huddled figure was a very quiet, "Why him?"

"Bankotsu..." The brown-haired man started, only to be cut off as the young leader turned and flung his arms around him; burying his face in his chest.

"Why Suikotsu? Why did they have to hurt him? Why?" He stammered, tears making their way down his face.

It was then that I caught a better glimpse of the wadded shirt that he'd been holding. I walked over and slowly unwrapped what seemed to be something inside it.

The sight, made my heart sink.

The purple tank top had been ripped and shredded badly, explaining those pieces we'd seen on the floor. Bloodstains were all over it, some fairly fresh, but that wasn't the worst part.

Inside, there was a tattered photograph- that had been torn in half. One side was of Bankotsu, and it was merely wadded up... but the other, the other side... was of Jakotsu, and wrapped in that piece was a bloody knife.

Musou knelt beside me and looked at the items closely as well.

"There's not enough blood on the blade for it to have been used to kill him directly, but other than that, this isn't good," He said loud enough for just me to hear him.

"Is there even a small chance that he's still alive?" I whispered.

"A very small one and with all those wounds, unless found soon- he's got no chance at all."

I hung my head, knowing how true that was.

"My guess is we have until the end of today to find him," Musou said quietly, looking off towards the building.

My gaze shifted over to Suikotsu, who was still holding the distraught Bankotsu in his arms. Mukotsu and Kyoukotsu stood to either side, looking on with visible concern for their young leader.

Then, I noticed that Bankotsu was trying to force himself to stand, being steadied by the other three as he managed to find his balance.

"We're going," He said simply.

"But Bankotsu," Suikotsu began.

"We're gonna go find out how the hell Renkotsu got out of that room and then we're going to make him tell me where the hell Jakotsu is. Got that?" He said sharply, his eyes in a piercing, deadly-gaze that I'd never seen on his face before.

The three other gang members nodded mutely as they followed the staggering form.

He paused momentarily and gathered the shirt into his arms.

"You can keep the rest for evidence, but I'd like to take this with me."

I nodded in reply, not able to find anything that seemed fitting to say.

The four-gang members slowly walked off down the street, Bankotsu occasionally leaning on one of the others for support.

Part of me said that I should have gone with him to find out about Renkotsu, but at the same time, matters here needed to be dealt with as well.

"Kagome, let's go back to the office and work some things out," Inuyasha said looking off after the four others.

"But, we really need to get in there to try and find Jakotsu," I replied.

"That's what I'm going to go do now," Musou said, turning to go back to the building.

"Musou?"

"Keh, get some clothes while you're at it," Inuyasha said crossing his arms.

"Don't worry Kaname, I'll call you if I find out anything. Kagura has the number right?"

"Her name's Kagome," My partner muttered.

"Kagome? Oh yeah. Kagura has her number as well."

I dragged a hand down my face, "Okay Musou. Please contact us soon."

"Sure will," He replied, running back towards the warehouse.

Inuyasha and I were just about to walk back out of the alley ourselves, when a car turned the corner; its lights shining right in our eyes.

I recognized the car right away, and we waited as the tall white-haired figure stepped out.

"Sesshoumaru, what are you doing down here?" Inuyasha asked with a glare.

"Kagura called. Said things are getting desperate and that she's going to try and take Naraku down tonight."

"She's what?" Inuyasha balked.

"We're taking him down and finding that missing young man tonight," Sesshoumaru stated simply, yet with an edge of determination I knew not to question.

I could only hope that it worked in time- for everyone's sake.

-----------------------------------

Preview for Chapter 15-

Kagura has a plan to take down Naraku, but can they manage to capture him and find Jakotsu before it's too late to save him?


	15. Chapter 15

Author's Notes: This chapter was revised on January 24, 2006.

--------------------------------------------

**-June 8th-**

**Entry at 2:09AM**

We talked over some details with Sesshoumaru, having him fill us in on what Kagura had planned.

He wouldn't come out and say it, but it sounded like she'd merely called him in as a backup in case her plan backfired. Surprisingly, I think he still came even knowing that.

"So, you are to wait here unless I inform you that your assistance will be required. Which, it won't," Sesshoumaru stated quietly, walking off with a stately air to a closer hiding spot outside the warehouse.

My adrenaline was still pumping hard in my veins from the incident moments before with the fire, so I decided to sit down for a while.

"Kagome, what are you doing?" Inuyasha muttered reaching down to pull me back up again.

"I just lived through a blazing inferno; can't I at least sit down?"

"And let that good-for-nothing idiot half-brother of mine take all the glory on this case? I think not!" He defiantly crossed his arms.

"Then why don't you go tell him what-for and I'll wait here," I replied flatly, I was not in the mood for one of their brotherly feuds.

"Keh! I'll do better than that. I'm going to sneak into that place the back way and get Naraku myself."

I narrowed my eyes, "Are you really that much of an idiot?"

He glared in return, "Then what's your genius plan? Call back up the gang-members and naked boy for help? Or should we just go and get that Renkotsu guy since he's such a _nice_ person too?"

Grabbing one of his arms, I applied enough pressure to get my point across, "I'm not saying that we should let Sesshoumaru get all the credit, but I'm not wanting to rush in there hastily either. Now just calm down and we can work out a course of action, okay?"

Grumbling something under his breath, he slowly pried my hand off his arm, "Jeez Kagome, I get the point. Okay, so what's this course of action?" He said crouching down.

I sat beside him, and began to explain. "All right, Kagura is inside trying to lure Naraku out so she can corner him in that alley by the exit. Sesshoumaru is waiting on the roof by there in case he's needed, now, we just have to figure out where we can go that won't interfere but will still get us in on it."

"There's a warehouse across the way, you can see the alley from there," Inuyasha muttered quietly.

"And how will that help?"

"You can shoot long-distance, right? Then hide over there and wait for Naraku to come out with Kagura. Hit him well enough to incapacitate him and I'll jump him from above."

"Wait a second," I saw where this was headed, a 'which brother is better' contest, "Isn't that what Sesshoumaru's planning on doing if Kagura needs help too- coming from above?"

"Well, look at this alley." He said pointing to the old metal laddering that graced the building's side. "When you're about to shoot, blow the dog whistle, I'll climb up and over this building and get him from this side."

I blinked, "You know- that might actually work."

He reached into his coat and handed me a few bullets, "There, now don't screw up on your aim."

"It should only take one," I started.

"I'm allowing for three misfires and the actual hit."

"Thanks for the support," I said sarcastically in reply.

"Go on, we don't have all day," He said pushing me off in the direction of the other warehouse.

"I'm going," I retorted, storming off, as quietly as I could to my position.

We waited for a few minutes, until I heard gunshots from inside the building. I readied myself and took a general aim into the alley, waiting for my target to appear. That's when the plan fell completely apart.

First of all, I saw Sesshoumaru jump down into the alley. His cell phone was in his hand, so I could only assume that Kagura had contacted him. Something had gone wrong.

He waited a few seconds before leveling his gun with the coded lock on the door and firing it off. Kicking the door in, he entered.

Not knowing what else to do, I stood up quickly and ran across the street.

I cautiously peeked into the knocked-in door, looking for any signs as to where they'd gone. It was then that I heard another gunshot, and ran in the direction of the sound.

Stopping abruptly on seeing the situation before me, I hid behind some nearby crates.

In a nearby open space, Kagura was laying on the ground, clutching her side. She'd been shot, and apparently, lost her weapon during the scuffle. Naraku was now leveling his own gun at her, and I prepared to shoot him if I had to. I had no idea where Musou or Sesshoumaru were at and so I was ready to save Kagura if I had to.

"Undercover agent eh? That's not a nice thing to do to someone who trusts you, Kagura," Naraku intoned, walking forward slowly.

"What are you going to do? Even if you kill me, the information will still get out. You can't win," She replied, staggering to her feet.

"Oh, but I _always_ win." He said, pressing the gun against her forehead. "Let's see if we can flush out that little pretty boy partner of yours, unless he'd rather stay hidden and watch you die. Then again, he wasn't too happy when I did that to that brat's parents, so I doubt he'll stand back and watch this time."

He was trying to lure Sesshoumaru out and I was running out of time. I knew if I wasn't careful, I might hit Kagura with my shot or if he did indeed show himself, Sesshoumaru. It was then that a shot ricocheted off a light on the ceiling, sending it crashing down to the ground. Now only light left in the room was that from a skylight, letting the soft-rays of moonlight shine in.

Naraku turned in the direction the shot came from, and then winced in pain. Kagura had pulled a knife from her cleavage and stabbed him in the side.

"Bitch!" He swore, turning and grabbing her by the hair.

She smirked, before kicking him right where the wound was on his side. He doubled over in pain, dropping her roughly to the ground as he fell.

Pushing herself up, she began to look about. Whether it was for her own gun or for Sesshoumaru, I wasn't certain.

I was just about to try shooting the gun from Naraku's hand when a blur of movement caught my eye.

Sesshoumaru had snuck up from behind Naraku, but in a flash, Naraku had turned, wrenched the gun from Sesshoumaru's hand, and had his own gun pressed against his temple.

Kagura froze. "Sesshoumaru…no…Naraku stop this!"

An evil laugh escaped the man's throat as he reached down and pulled Sesshoumaru's knife from his coat pocket. "And don't even think about using this, I'm onto you." He said, slowly cutting two lines into the side of Sesshoumaru's face, the blood beginning to run down his neck.

I tried to aim, but every time I had a clear shot, Naraku would move to where Sesshoumaru blocked my way. It was as if he knew I was there, and as scary as it was to consider, I think he did.

"Now my dear Kagura, why don't you go and get all that lovely information you gathered on me, and I'll watch over your nice partner while you're retrieving it."

"It's nice of you… to kill him when I don't have to watch," Kagura said slowly walking towards him.

Naraku smirked sadistically, "And how did you know that's what I had planned?"

"Because I know how your sick mind works."

"Well then, would you rather stay and watch?" Naraku questioned.

"I…" Kagura dared to walk a bit closer, "Just, let me say goodbye. Please…"

Naraku's smirk widened, "How sentimental we're getting, aren't we Kagura? Go on, say goodbye then."

"No, I mean…I wish to…" I caught a glimmer of something in her eyes and noticed that Sesshoumaru seemed to nod slightly to her in reply.

Pulling off Sesshoumaru's long trench coat to assure he wouldn't be able to draw any more weapons from it, Naraku gave him a swift push in Kagura's direction. "There, say your goodbyes." He stood closely to them, still keeping the gun to Sesshoumaru's head.

Once again, I couldn't find a safe opening to fire at him. He made sure that I always ran the risk of hitting Sesshoumaru or Kagura along with him, knowing that would keep me from firing.

Kagura slowly reached up, pushing Sesshoumaru's hair from his face and wiping the blood from his cheek. "I'm sorry I screwed up," She muttered softly.

"He's just going to kill you too," Sesshoumaru said quietly in reply.

"I know I just hope _Kagome_ or someone can take care of Rin."

That was it! They knew I was there and were going to distract him to give me a chance to fire. I waited, aiming at Naraku and looking for the opening.

Sesshoumaru nodded slightly to Kagura as she continued, taking his face in her hands, "Goodbye, Sesshoumaru…"

She leaned in, pressing her lips to his.

Naraku pulled back the gun just a slight bit as Sesshoumaru leaned into the kiss, "Well isn't that touching," He said sarcastically.

Kagura's left arm began to reach up and around to seemingly embrace him. That was my clue. Instead of putting the arm around Sesshoumaru, she pushed Naraku away, pulling Sesshoumaru towards her and down as Naraku's gun fired.

I took the opening and fired, the bullet embedding itself in Naraku's shoulder.

Scrambling up from the ground, Sesshoumaru was making a move towards his discarded trench coat; Kagura for the knife that lay nearby.

Naraku staggered a bit, and then sent an icy glare in my direction. "Nice try little girl, but you only get one chance." With that, he fired directly at me and I just barely dodged, the bullet grazing my cheek.

Things were getting bad and I had to think of something fast.

Naraku then set his sight on Sesshoumaru, firing two shots into his left arm. He skidded to the ground, landing awkwardly on his side, then reached over to the coat and rummaged inside for his own weapon.

Sesshoumaru pulled out a small gun, and aimed- but it didn't fire.

Naraku laughed, "Looking for these?" He asked tossing a few bullets in the air, "Sorry to borrow them, but I was running low." Loading the bullets quickly into his own gun, he prepared to fire.

Kagura had managed to grab up her knife and was now running towards Naraku. Throwing the knife with great accuracy, it now stuck out from Naraku's shoulder, the same spot I'd shot before.

He winced in pain and fired a wild shot into the air before wrenching the knife from his back.

"Damn bitch, I should have killed you when I had the chance," Taking aim at Sesshoumaru again, he cocked the gun, "But I guess he'll have to go before you."

Kagura's eyes widened as she realized that Sesshoumaru couldn't move due to the injury on his arm and the way he'd landed. As the bullet shot forth, she ran between it and her partner, "Sesshoumaru get down!"

She threw herself on top of him, pressing them both down as the bullet flew by. I could hear the sound it made as it hit the far wall.

"Kagura?" Sesshoumaru questioned; his voice in its usual tone.

"It's okay, it just grazed my back," She replied sitting up and then helping Sesshoumaru sit up as well. "What about your arm?"

"Numb. Hit a nerve ending. Could be serious," He stated as if it was nothing.

Their conversation stopped as Naraku's footsteps echoed off the concrete floor. Kagura put herself as a shield between the two men, placing her hand on Sesshoumaru's shoulder for support, unable to stand herself given her injuries.

He was about to take aim again and not knowing what else to do given the fact he could very easily turn the gun on me, I blew the dog whistle in hopes Inuyasha could hear it.

And that's when he snapped. Like I'd heard about from Musou and Kagura- it was as if I was looking at a completely different person, as Naraku began to shake uncontrollably and mumble to himself.

He looked to Sesshoumaru and Kagura, and then to the gun in his hands. "No, no… why am I doing this? Why?" He threw down the gun and sunk to his knees, burying his face in his hands. "Why? I don't want to kill anymore. Stop it! Stop making me kill people!" He pleaded with some unknown being.

Kagura and I had both began to move ever so slowly towards the discarded weapon in hopes we could get it while he was in this strange state. That's when I heard a distinct yell.

"Kagome! Get back!" Inuyasha jumped down from some of the crates nearby, tackling Naraku completely to the ground and pressing his gun to his head. "Someone call the damned police, we've got him," He said pulling Naraku's arms back behind him and quickly clamping handcuffs on him.

"It's not proper protocol to tackle one's intended target. Reckless behavior isn't conducive in a job like this," Sesshoumaru spoke, using Kagura to balance him as he stood.

"Keh. And like a true detective ends up making out with his partner while trying to take down the target?" Inuyasha replied with a glare.

"Given a similar situation, would you rather have had a bullet through the head?" His brother retorted as calm as always.

"Oh yeah, well…"

"Wait a second, Inuyasha- how did you know that they'd done that to distract Naraku?" I asked, wondering how long he'd been nearby.

"I hear the gunshots earlier, went to find you," He paused to frown, "And when I couldn't find you where you were supposed to be, figured you'd come over here. I happened to walk in right when my brother had his tongue down her throat."

"You shouldn't exaggerate things," Sesshoumaru retorted.

"True. You being romantic doesn't need exaggeration, does it?" He shot back.

"It looks like he snapped again," Kagura said, changing the subject back to the now sobbing form on the ground.

"Is this like what happened to him earlier when we were trapped in the room?" I asked, trying to piece things together.

"Pretty much. Similar reaction, only difference was that in that case, he switched back in a few minutes." She replied.

"I think he's somehow been controlled using the sound of a dog whistle," I said making my deduction. "Earlier, when he switched back, you said you heard a second whistle that I didn't blow, right Inuyasha?"

"Yeah, I heard two." He answered, looking up from his staring match with his brother.

"But who would be controlling him like that?" Kagura questioned.

I knelt a safe distance from the man and slowly helped him sit up, "Naraku? Naraku, can you tell us what's going on? Who's doing this to you?" I asked, trying to remain calm as to not startle him.

"I…I don't know." He replied shakily.

I stood then, and walked a bit to the side. I pulled out my cell phone and quickly called up the police. I was about to call an ambulance for Sesshoumaru and Kagura, when Sesshoumaru stopped me.

"That won't be needed."

"But, your arm…" I started.

"I can still drive. Don't bother with the ambulance," He said leaning back against a wall.

"Don't worry Kagome; we'll leave for the hospital once we get things worked out with the police." Kagura said sitting down beside him.

I was about to protest again, I mean they were still bleeding, when I heard Naraku speak up and light footsteps approaching.

"Kanna! Kanna get out of here! Kanna please, I don't want you hurt! Go back home," He pleaded with a small girl that was walking in from the other side of the warehouse.

I looked closely at the small girl- her complexion pale, her hair would be considered white, and her eyes were a grayish tone. I wondered if perhaps she was classified an albino. In her arms she carried a somewhat deformed white rabbit, and around her neck there was a silver chain tucked into her white dress.

I paused…_silver chain…_ I pulled off the dog whistle from around my neck and inspected it. _A silver chain…Just like this one!_

---------------------------------------

Preview for Chapter 16-

Naraku's being controlled? But by whom? And how? And what about Jakotsu?


	16. Chapter 16

Author's Notes: This chapter was revised on January 24, 2006.

--------------------------------------------

**-June 8th-**

**Entry at 4:27AM**

I slowly walked towards the pale girl, watching Naraku from the corner of my eye.

"Kanna, please go home!" He begged her yet again, but she was now standing beside me and I knelt to her level.

"Hey there, what's your name?"

"Kanna," She replied, voice completely emotionless.

"Okay Kanna, can you tell me what you're doing down here by yourself?" I asked, trying to get a better look at what hung on the chain around her neck.

"I'm visiting Dad since he had to leave," Came the simple reply.

"Dad?" Inuyasha questioned as he walked over.

The girl pointed to Naraku, hugging her stuffed bunny a bit closer, "He's my Dad. He had to leave me with his friend a few years ago and began to live down here."

I narrowed my eyes in thought, "Where did you use to live?"

"With Dad and his friend in Okugi City, then Grandma and Grandpa's house burned down and Dad began to act strange," She explained quietly.

I still couldn't tell what was on the chain, so seeing that she was being fairly cooperative I asked her, "Kanna, what's that around your neck?"

The pale child reached down, my breath catching in my throat in anticipation, but- it wasn't another dog whistle. It was a small mirror.

"A mirror?" Inuyasha's question mimicked my thoughts.

"Dad gave it to me before he left," She replied, voice still without a discernable emotion.

"Please, I know I've done something wrong, but don't hurt my daughter. She has nothing to do with this," Naraku pleaded, speaking up.

I heard the sirens drawing closer and looked up. "The police can watch over her until she can get a ride home," I reassured him, knowing that the girl's knowledge of the situation might be needed.

We dealt quickly with the Police Chief, Mr. Kuranosuke Takeda. I was glad to see that he was too busy having his men deal with Naraku to bother interrogating me as to where Sango was. The guy never could get it through his head that she just didn't like him.

After making sure that the police were taking proper measures to investigate Naraku's personality situation and having Sesshoumaru and Kagura threaten them into promising to alert us to any new developments, we saw them off.

Heading out to Sesshoumaru's car, InuYasha insisted that he was the one to drive; luckily, Sesshoumaru knew he was in no condition to be behind a wheel so a brotherly feud didn't break out.

Making our way through the city, we were headed for a small inner-city hospital that was nearby. The drive there was in complete silence, but I could tell Sesshoumaru's breathing was a bit more ragged than normal and Kagura was trying to tend to his arm as best as she could with her own injuries.

Finally, we arrived at the small clinic and quickly helped the other two detectives inside. We had just barely entered when an elderly woman approached us.

"Mr. Taiyoukai, what happened this time?" She addressed Sesshoumaru.

"It's over now. We finally got him," He muttered quietly in return.

The woman reached up, using a handkerchief to wipe the blood from his cheek, "Looks like Naraku left you with another set of scars as a goodbye present."

"My partner's still alive though," He replied, Kagura looking up at him as he said it.

"One set for the little girl, one set for your partner," The woman stopped as Sesshoumaru pulled off his trench coat and she noticed his arm, "And it looks like your arm was in payment for finally catching him," She said stepping forward to inspect the two bullet wounds.

"If it's just my arm, then it was a cheap price to pay," He replied, flinching ever so slightly as she tapped on one of the holes.

"Let's get you into the Emergency Room, Sesshoumaru. I'll tend to your partner."

He nodded in response, walking with as much dignity as one could while cradling their own bloody arm towards the Emergency Room doors.

Kagura looked down to the woman, "You seem to know him fairly well."

Adjusting the patch over her eye, the woman replied, "I've probably treated every severe wound that man has gotten while trying to close the case on Naraku and he still hasn't changed one bit." She looked at Kagura thoughtfully, a knowing smile on her face, "And I'm taking it you're the female partner he acquired since the last time I saw him."

The black-haired female nodded in reply as the woman extended her hand.

"The name's Kaede, head nurse of this hospital. Come on now; let's get you two girls fixed up," She said walking towards a nearby room, then halting when only Kagura followed. I blinked, realizing she meant for me to follow as well. That's when she noticed Inuyasha beside me.

"I see he even got his brother in on this one."

"I was involved in the case via my own agency, thank you very much," He replied, crossing his arms.

"You haven't changed a bit boy, ever since I had to patch up your leg when you were seven I knew you'd be competing with your brother the rest of your life. Your father would have loved to have seen you two working together like this though."

Inuyasha hung his head. I hadn't heard much about his father from him, but it was hard to live in this city and not know of the detective by the name of Taiyoukai. He was the first detective to take the Naraku case two years ago, and the first to lose his life because of it. It had always been said that's why his two sons took up the profession and why Sesshoumaru had worked so hard to gain ranks and be able to take on his father's case. Inuyasha, well, I had a feeling it was like Kaede said- he was merely competing with his brother on a more grandiose scale. But even with all that, I was also glad that they both had a part in capturing Naraku. I'm sure it gave them some sort of peace over their father's death.

"And is this young lady your partner?" The nurse asked walking over to me.

"Yeah, she is," He replied; then after a pause he spoke again, quieter this time, "…you might want to check on her, she decided to go rushing into a burning room a while back."

Kaede looked at me closely, "I figured it was something from a fire. Okay, come on, I'll fix both of you up."

I followed the nurse and Kagura into a nearby room, Inuyasha lagging behind us. "Just sit over there, Miss…"

"Higurashi, Kagome Higurashi," I replied.

"And I'm taking it you're Miss Nishikaze, correct?" She asked, gathering some gauze from a nearby drawer and handing Kagura a hospital robe to change into.

"Yes, but I don't believe we've met," The female detective said, perplexed.

"Sesshoumaru mentioned taking you as a partner to me when he got that first set of scars on his face," Kaede replied, looking at the bullet wound on Kagura's side. "InuYasha, you're going to have to step out for a bit while I patch this up."

"Keh, whatever," He muttered, walking out the door and closing it behind him.

"Sesshoumaru said something about me?" She paused, turning to Kaede.

"You were working on the missing person's case that ended up overlapping with his at the time, weren't you?"

"Yeah, I met Sesshoumaru the day Naraku killed Rin's parents. I was called in because that family was the three reported missing I was looking for."

Kaede nodded her head, as Kagura pulled her long red oriental dress off and slid on the hospital robe.

"Well that first set of knife scars on his face was from Naraku. Gave it to him moments before Sesshoumaru was able to save the little girl and get out of there. He might not be showing it, but I'm sure that the fact his other cheek bares the same two scars is hurting him more than physically," The old woman explained, pausing to wash the blood from Kagura's side before she continued, "You see, when they found his father's body, Naraku had marked two slash marks into each cheek- just like those Sesshoumaru now has."

"I see," Kagura said quietly, "I guess I'll have to be careful about mentioning those then. I always thought perhaps they were just part of the strange birthmarks and traits that ran in his bloodline."

"Ah yes, the Taiyoukai's have always had some unnatural traits to them. Take Inuyasha for example: his mother was in such a state of shock when she saw her son had ears like that, and I'm sure Sesshoumaru has been taunted on more than one occasion when younger due to that moon-shaped birthmark on his forehead."

"Has anyone ever figured out why?" I spoke up, curious myself as to my partner's ears.

"It's a mystery of science that's been in their bloodline as far back as they can trace it. For all we know, they might be part of some strange extinct race of humans, but well, even science and medicine can't explain everything in this world," She stood then, picking up some of the gauze, and beginning to wrap Kagura's side up, "You're lucky; that bullet just grazed your side. Shouldn't be too bad, just blood loss."

"And my back?" Kagura said pointing to the line of blood that ran diagonally across it.

"How did that one happen?" Kaede asked, wiping the blood off.

"After Sesshoumaru got shot in his arm, he couldn't move very well, so I had to jump over him to keep another shot from hitting him."

"So it skimmed across your back instead of hitting him in the head," The old nurse deduced.

"Yeah," Kagura replied, rubbing at a slight scrape on her left arm.

"I'm glad to see that stubborn man finally gave in and got a partner. He owes his life to you for it, whether he'll admit it or not."

Kagura smiled weakly then, "I just wish I could have done something to protect his arm."

"Don't worry, Kagura. He's a tough one. A measly arm isn't going to stop him any," Stepping back and looking over Kagura, she nodded to herself, "All right, I've bandaged all I can. Now to see about you," She said, turning to me.

"I'm okay, really. Just smudged in ashes with a few scrapes," I protested, holding my hands up.

"Hmm, you were in on the little shoot out with Naraku too I take it?" She questioned, wiping at the spot on my cheek where the bullet had grazed it.

"Yeah, I was," I replied as she bandaged the wound up.

"Good, that means you two ladies can tell me all about the little showdown while we wait to hear about Sesshoumaru's condition," Kaede said heading for the door.

"Just a second," Kagura spoke up.

"Something wrong?" The nurse asked.

"I'd rather walk about in my bloody dress than in this thin piece of fabric with the back wide open if you don't mind," She said, indicating the usual problem with hospital robes.

"You're as bad as Sesshoumaru. We could never get him to wear those either."

As we were waiting for her to change back, I heard the distinct voice of Inuyasha yelling at someone out in the hallway.

"Oh yeah! Well you should watch where you're going!"

"_Kuso, don't you start with me idiot. I am not in the mood to beat you up,_" Came the familiar voice with the Japanese words mixed in.

I rushed out the door, and as suspected, there was Suikotsu and Inuyasha glaring at each other.

"Suikotsu, what are you doing here?" I questioned, hoping it was enough of a diversion to keep a fight from breaking out.

"Oh hello, Miss Kagome. _I'm about to kick this baka's ass for messing with me when I'm not in a good mood,_" He replied, cracking his knuckles.

Just as it seemed eminent that a fight break out, a calm yet forceful voice spoke up from down the hallway, "Mister Suikotsu, your friend wouldn't be too pleased to know that you're picking a fight with someone at a time like this."

As the figure drew closer, I made out a female nurse, long black hair like my own, but it was pulled back in a ponytail with two loops hanging down from the sides. I looked to Inuyasha; he seemed to recognize her.

"Kikyou?" He asked before Suikotsu turned to her, and rushed to her side.

"I'm so sorry Miss Kikyou, but he bumped into me and I guess we just got upset."

"Just try and behave yourself when in the hospital, for my sake at least?" She said with an edge of a commanding tone to it while placing a comforting hand on Suikotsu's shoulder.

"Sure thing, Miss Kikyou."

She turned her gaze back to Inuyasha, "Well well, never thought I'd run into you again."

"Not my fault your grandma and my dad decided to set us up, Kikyou." He retorted crossing his arms. I could merely conclude they'd been set up on a blind date of sorts, and from the sound of it, it didn't go well.

"I still haven't forgotten you dumping that plate of food on me, you know," Kikyou said, icy glare on her face.

"You're the one that spilt the drink on me first," Inuyasha responded, glaring in return.

"And I said it was an accident," She shot back.

"And I still don't believe you."

"Um, so Suikotsu, what are you doing down here anyways?" I said, trying to break up the fight and quench my curiosity.

He hung his head, "Bankotsu got hurt."

"What!" Both Inuyasha and I exclaimed at the same moment.

Suikotsu sighed, "Renkotsu had picked the lock and gotten out that way while Ginkotsu was sleeping. We can't find him anywhere, but he left a message on Bankotsu's phone. I really don't want to repeat it, but let's just say it upset Bankotsu so much; he punched his fist into my bathroom's mirror. Miss Kikyou's been spending the last hour picking glass pieces out of his arm."

"I didn't know you knew the Kotsu-gang members, Inuyasha," Kikyou spoke up.

"They're involved with our case for a missing person," He retorted.

"Jakotsu, I presume?"

"Yeah, him," Inuyasha said walking a bit towards me.

"Bankotsu's in a room down the hallway, if you want to speak to him," She replied, turning.

I looked back to Kagura and Kaede who'd been watching from the doorway. Kagura waved her hand towards me, "Go on, I just want to check on Sesshoumaru's status and then I'll head that way as well."

I nodded and began to follow the young nurse and Suikotsu down the hallway.

She quietly pushed open the doorway, and we stepped in. I paused on seeing Bankotsu's condition; I mean I knew things were bad, but I didn't want to see him like this.

His entire right arm was covered in gauze, and there were a few scrapes on his face, most likely from glass that shot upwards. He was clenching the tattered purple shirt in his hand; even though, it was obviously causing him pain to move it so soon after the injury.

Slowly looking up, I caught a glimmer of a tear that was about to escape his eye as he locked eyes with all of us. "Did you…find him yet?" He shakily asked.

I sadly shook my head no, "We got finally got Naraku though, so we'll surely find Jakotsu soon." And I sincerely hoped I could live up to that, for everyone's sake.

------------------------------------------

Preview for Chapter 17-

Wounds on the heart aren't easy to heal, as everyone is quick to find out. Sesshoumaru is faced with a decision that might change his life, and Bankotsu is falling deeper into depression due to the situation at hand. Can Kagome and InuYasha find a way to help them both, or will it take someone else to ease the pain caused by the entire ordeal?


	17. Chapter 17

Author's Notes: This chapter was revised on January 24, 2006.

--------------------------------------------

**-June 8th-**

**Entry at 5:59AM**

The once formidable leader looked so heartbroken; it was hard to tell he was the same man we'd faced off against just the week before. Pulling the blankets up, he held them along with the tattered purple shirt against his chest, a tear sliding down his face.

Suikotsu sat down in the bedside chair, placing a gentle hand on the man's arm. "Hang in there, Bankotsu. He wouldn't want to see you like this. _Yeah, so just suck it up and stop being such a cry-bab…"_

Before his less-than tactful other side could finish, Kikyou had ever so politely, smacked him the back of the head, "Don't go there, Suikotsu. I've had a long night."

Gently rubbing the location of impact, Suikotsu gave the somewhat cold nurse a hesitant smile, "Sorry Miss Kikyou, I guess the whole situation's just getting to me a bit as well."

"It would be expected," She replied simply, and then looked to us, "Anything you needed to ask Bankotsu? If not, he really needs some sleep."

I walked forward, slowly, nodding my head, "Just a few things, then he can sleep."

Sitting on the edge of the bed, I began to explain, "Bankotsu, listen. I know this is all very hard for you and that you're very worried about Jakotsu, but we'll keep working on this until we find him. I promise you that. The police are interrogating Naraku, so perhaps we might get the information that way. If not, we'll just search every last inch of that warehouse until we're able to return Jakotsu to you."

He forced a smile at that, "Thanks. Once I've gotten my arm fixed up, I'll help all I can."

"We'll be around the hospital for awhile too, Bankotsu; so if you need us for anything, just have someone come get us." I said before heading back out the door.

I turned, only to run into Inuyasha's back.

"You should probably come with me, Inuyasha. I know you aren't close, but he's still your brother," I could hear Kagura's voice and peered around my partner to see the situation.

"Yeah. I'm coming. So there's no other choice?" He questioned, voice soft and…worried?

"No. There isn't…" She replied shakily.

"What happened?" I asked, quietly.

Inuyasha looked back over his shoulder, his face serious, "Sesshoumaru's arm. They can't save it."

I blinked a few times, the comment registering in my mind, "You mean…"

"They're going to have to amputate it. The nerve endings were damaged too severely by where those two bullets hit," Kagura spoke up, her voice wavering.

"I'm gonna go. They're… uh, having to give him stuff to put him out while they operate, and well there's always a risk, that he won't…." Inuyasha paused, hanging his head and I wondered if he was trying to hold back tears by his behavior. Then, his fist shot out and impacted into the nearby wall, "Just like mom did. She just never woke up…" He very softly added.

Knowing not what else to do, I put my arms around him, and gently embraced him. "I'll come with you." I whispered into the ear atop his head that was near my face.

He looked over to me, our faces inches apart, and reached over cupping my face in his hands. "Kagome…"

"Yes?" I waited, wondering why he was looking at me like that.

"You still have ashes from the fire all over your face. Maybe you should go wash up before coming down to the emergency room with me," He noted, still serious.

I frowned, "Kagura's injuries are worse than mine and she's going for Sesshoumaru so it's only right that I'm there for you. A few smudges on my face aren't going to stop me from being supportive."

He bit his lip as if he was about to argue against it some more, when Kagura stepped forward.

"Inuyasha, it might be the best for the both of us to have a friend along," She offered.

"Keh. Okay, let's go," He retorted, crossing his arms and trying to act tough. I could see it in his eyes that he was still immensely worried, but as per usual, was trying to hide it under a tough façade.

Silently, we made our way towards the Emergency Room wing of the hospital. Once through the doors, Kaede came over to us.

"Oh good, you found him. They're about to administer the drug soon, so if you want to talk to him, you still have some time."

Inuyasha nodded mutely.

"I can let you talk to him first, if you want," Kagura offered quietly, "I mean, he is your brother."

Another silent nod in reply and Inuyasha allowed himself to be ushered into the room. I followed behind, and was about to wait outside when I felt a light grip about my hand.

I looked up, to see that Inuyasha was slightly tugging me towards him, indicating that he wanted me to stay with him.

"Okay Inuyasha," I replied to his unspoken request.

Once in the room various monitors and machines buzzed around us, all watching Sesshoumaru's status on one thing or another. He looked up as the door shut behind us.

"You came," The usual calm voice stated.

"Yeah, I did." Came the quiet retort.

Things went silent again, until Sesshoumaru spoke again, "This is reminding you of your mother, isn't it?"

First a glare, then his face dropped before Inuyasha replied, "So what if it is?"

"Since you can't handle Rin, I'll just have to make sure I don't die then," Sesshoumaru stated simply.

Inuyasha looked up, eyes locking with those of his brother's.

The room yet again fell quiet as not another word was exchanged for several moments.

"She's waiting outside, isn't she?" The elder brother asked, breaking the silence.

"Yeah. She is," He replied, still soft-spoken.

"Let her in."

I raised a hand and indicated to Inuyasha that I would go get Kagura. I walked to the door, and looked out. Kagura was leaning against the wall head down.

"Kagura?"

She looked up, expectantly.

"He asked for us to get you," I informed her.

Seeming a bit surprised that he'd asked, she slowly walked over and into the still quiet room.

The door swung closed behind us and Kagura stood barely inside the door, head still down.

The small room was completely quiet for about a minute, the only sound was the soft whirring of the machines.

"Stop it, Kagura," Sesshoumaru finally spoke up again, a curt order that made all of us jump a bit.

"Sesshoumaru?" She questioned, looking up.

"A detective should know better than to assign blame where it doesn't belong," He stated.

"But Sesshoumaru…" Kagura began, clearly thinking this was due to her mistake.

"Naraku is in jail. You and I are alive. There is nothing to blame," He explained in his strange cryptic way of speaking that I never could quite figure out.

"But- I still feel bad about what happened. I mean," She was clenching her fist, "Damnit if things had gone as planned this wouldn't have happened."

"Our plan was to capture Naraku. In that, we succeeded as expected."

Kagura walked over closer to him, punching softly in the edge of the bed, "At what price though?"

"Less than my Father paid," Sesshoumaru replied.

Kagura hung head again, realizing how touchy a subject this was becoming. Then she jerked her head back up, a shocked expression on her face as she looked down at him.

At first, I couldn't figure out what had triggered such a reaction, but then, I saw the slight gesture that was the cause of it.

Sesshoumaru had reached over and placed his hand over hers.

"You're too good a detective to incorrectly assign blame, Kagura."

"Sesshoumaru… I…I… Thank you," She managed to reply.

The door opened and Kaede looked in, "They're ready for him. Are we all going to be okay?"

Inuyasha nodded, and I glanced over to Kagura. She had reached up and gently brushed her fingers over the bandages on Sesshoumaru's cheek.

"I'll repay you for those somehow, someday. I promise that, Sesshoumaru, so just wait for that day," Forcing herself to move, she turned away and slowly made her way to the door, I began to follow, then waited for Inuyasha.

"If you die, I swear I'll kill you, Sesshoumaru," He muttered, too upset to realize what a silly threat it was.

"As if you could," The brother retorted, still laid-back as he always was.

Inuyasha made his way out the door and I followed, the three of us all headed for the nearby waiting room to find a place to rest while Sesshoumaru was undergoing the operation. It was going to be a long ordeal, and I had a feeling I was going to have to keep both Inuyasha and Kagura in high spirits throughout it all.

Sitting down on a couch next to Inuyasha, we began the hardest part- waiting. Only about fifteen minutes had passed and Inuyasha's fidgeting, although expected given the situation, was driving me nuts. Not wanting to upset him further, I decided to take this opportunity to see if Bankotsu had been able to fall asleep yet. I still felt really bad we hadn't found anything on Jakotsu yet, and I was hoping he wasn't continuing to make himself suffer over it.

"Inuyasha, if you'll be okay, I'm going to go see if Bankotsu calmed down any."

He glared for a moment, and then looked away, "Whatever."

Tentatively, I reached down and took his hand, "If you need me here, I'll understand. You don't have to pretend that everything's okay."

He looked up, slightly gripping my hand in return. "Just…" He stopped himself and looked down.

"I'll hurry," I replied to his unsaid words.

I was just about to exit the room when I heard him speak up again, "Kagome?"

"Yes?" I turned back to face him.

"No _comforting_ him. Got that?" He muttered with a glare.

Leave it to him to still be a bit jealous even at a time like this.

"I know, I know," I responded, making my way out the doors and the hallways.

As I was just about to reach the room, I overheard Suikotsu talking and paused before turning the corner.

"And what are we going to do if we can't find him? Or if it's too late?"

"Suikotsu…" The voice of who I believed to be Kikyou said softly.

"I mean, not only will I lose a best friend, but Bankotsu- he'll never be the same."

I peered around, confirming my deduction that it was Kikyou with him.

Suikotsu looked distraught, a hand covering his face, "I want to stay strong for Bankotsu's sake but I'm just as worried myself. For both of them."

Reaching out and pulling the tall-man loosely into her arms, their foreheads touching lightly as Kikyou soothingly ran her fingers through his hair.

"I know. This is hard on all of you. To be missing someone close to you and having another member be the one behind it. It just shatters the trust. Betrayal by someone you held as a friend is worse than any physical injury."

"Kikyou…" He said quietly, looking up at her and a tear about to fall from his eye.

She gently brushed it away, "Just keep strong, Suikotsu. Ganbatte yo? Is that right?"

He smiled, "Yeah, I'll keep at it. Thanks Kikyou." Leaning down, he kissed her lightly, before turning back towards the room's door.

"Suikotsu, wait a moment."

"Hmm?" He paused.

"We have a visitor." Kikyou indicated my location, and I wondered how long she knew I was there.

"Ah, Miss Kagome. I didn't see you there."

"Sorry to…uh… intrude…" I muttered.

Suikotsu nervously scratched the back of his head, "Oh, yeah, I never did mention my girlfriend to you before, did I? I met her about a year ago when I snapped so badly the guys had to bring me here to get some stronger medicine."

"Oh, I see."

"I don't suppose Inuyasha's dumped any food on you yet, given that you seem so partial to him," Kikyou said coolly.

"Eheh, nope, he just sits on top of my desk, gets annoyed by strange things and is always fighting with his brother over something stupid," I answered, knowing that I most likely was blushing.

"Oh, that's right. How is his brother?" Suikotsu inquired, "I know he was going to have to get his arm amputated, so how'd it go?"

"He's still in surgery now. I just came down to see if Bankotsu was able to rest any really quick," I replied.

"Ah, I see," The brown-haired man nodded, "He fell right asleep once we all got out of the room for awhile. He's completely exhausted." He pushed open the door slightly and looked in. "Poor guy, even in his sleep it seems to be bothering him."

I walked over and looked in as well, noting as he did that Bankotsu was tossing about in his sleep.

"Go on," Kikyou said quietly, pushing Suikotsu forward.

"Kik…Kikyou?" He questioned.

She gestured slightly, and Suikotsu got the idea. He sat down in the beside chair and reached over, taking the young leader's hand. "Hang in there Bankotsu; we'll get your Jakotsu back to you, just hold on."

Clutching the purple shirt closely, but calming somewhat, Bankotsu finally stopped tossing in his sleep.

Following Suikotsu in, Kikyou stood behind him and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"I better get back to Inuyasha. Let me know if anything happens over here." I whispered, and both Suikotsu and Kikyou nodded in reply.

I made my way back to the other wing, only to find that InuYasha and Kagura were both standing and talking with Kaede.

"What's wrong?" I asked, walking over.

"There are some minor complications. Sesshoumaru's system seems to be reacting negatively with one of the drugs we gave to him," Kaede explained.

Kagura looked like she was holding back tears and Inuyasha's face held an expression I couldn't quite read, but nonetheless, I knew this was bringing back memories of when he'd lost his mother.

Gently, I wrapped my arms around Inuyasha, telling him quietly, "It's all right. I'm here now."

I felt him shift slightly, his arms going around me and his face resting on my shoulder. "Kagome… Sesshoumaru, he's…"

"Shh, he's tough, he'll be okay. Just be strong, Inuyasha. Your father and your mother would tell you the same thing, stay strong."

Silently I prayed that I would have the strength to get everyone through this and that Sesshoumaru and Jakotsu would both be okay.

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Preview for Chapter 18:

Sesshoumaru's condition isn't stable, and anything serious that happens to him will cause both Inuyasha and Kagura problems. Kagome's trying her best, but with Sesshoumaru in surgery and Jakotsu still missing, what's a poor detective to do?


	18. Chapter 18

Author's Notes: This chapter was revised on January 24, 2006.

--------------------------------------------

**-June 8th-**

**Entry at 8:21AM**

Sitting once again in the waiting room, I could see that the whole ordeal was taking its toll on all of us. We needed to sleep, each of us struggling to keep our eyes open, but with Sesshoumaru still in surgery, we weren't going to be sleeping anytime soon.

Finally, Kaede returned.

"He's out of surgery now, and they're taking him to a room to rest. We'll just have to wait and see if he wakes up from the medication okay. That's all we can do now."

Inuyasha flinched and I had a feeling that those words might have been the same ones the doctors had told him about his mother.

Without a word between the three of us, we made our way to the room Sesshoumaru was placed in.

We were just about to enter, when Kagura froze in the doorway.

"Oh god, Sesshouaru…" She murmured before making her way over to his side.

I put a hand to my mouth. His left arm- had been cut off mid-way between his shoulder and his elbow. That's all that was left of it.

Looking over to Inuyasha, I noticed him balling his hand into a fist. As much as it would hurt him to admit it, I could tell how deeply this was affecting him.

Kagura's voice caused me to shift my focus back up, "Sesshoumaru, you're the strongest person I know. Please, make it through this," She said, gently lifting his right hand and holding it between her two hands.

"If you stay quiet, you can wait in here until he wakes up," Kaede said, gesturing to a few chairs over by the wall. Kagura had already taken the bedside chair, looking on with worry as she continued to hold onto his hand.

Inuyasha shoved his hands in his pockets and took one of the chairs by the wall without a word. I followed and sat beside him.

I'm not certain how long we'd been sitting there, watching him and every once in a while glancing to the blinking machines and devices that monitored his condition. Finally, I felt Inuyasha's weight against my shoulder. I looked over to see that he'd fallen asleep slouched against me. Brushing the bangs from his face, I moved just a little to make it more comfortable for him.

"Just rest Inuyasha, everything will be okay. I'm sure of it."

A little more time passed, and Kagura had fallen asleep leaning forward- her head resting on the bed against Sesshoumaru's side, and her hand still loosely holding his. I yawned; my eyes were getting harder and harder to keep open. And the last thing I clearly could remembered was leaning my head over on top of Inuyasha's shoulder and closing my eyes.

--------------------------------------------

The first thing my mind registered as I was waking up was someone lightly shaking me and whispering my name. Finally I opened one eye.

"Kagome? Kagome wake up."

It was Bankotsu. I closed my eyes again, nuzzling against Inuyasha a bit more. Then my brain processed who it was and my eyes shot open.

"Bankotsu? What's wrong?" I asked seeing Bankotsu looking somewhat happier than when I'd last seen him. Suikotsu was standing with his hand on Kikyou's shoulder in the doorway.

"Musou called," He managed to say, breathing heavily- I assume from running down here.

"Ah?" I sat up rubbing my eyes a bit. I could feel Inuyasha stirring beside me.

"Well," He took a deep breath, "He's been sneaking in while the cops aren't around, and well, he went to that back door- the one you saw the blood on the doorframe of."

"And?"

"He followed a slight trail of blood from there. He says, unless he's mistaken, Jakotsu's got to be somewhere in the eastern corridor of the warehouse. The cops came back or he would have continued looking," Pausing he placed his hands on my shoulders, "He's going to find Jakotsu, Kagome. We're going to find him."

Inuyasha, who was woken up by the commotion, glared and plucked Bankotsu's hands off me, "Then save your excitement for him."

"Has he found anything else?" I questioned.

"I'm not sure; he wasn't able to talk long. But, he said we should find Jakotsu sometime today. He wanted you guys to come down once we were finished here since the police will let you in."

I nodded, "Okay Bankotsu. Have you called your other friends?"

"Kyoukotsu and Ginkotsu were out looking for Renkotsu, but I left word with Mukotsu," He said simply.

"Good. You should probably try to eat something while we're here. Once we get things worked out with Sesshoumaru, I'm sure they'll want to go deal with the Naraku issue."

"They say I'm well enough to go out, so I'll probably go somewhere with them and get something to eat," He said gesturing to Suikotsu and Kikyou. "You want anything?"

"Where are you going?" I asked with a yawn.

"WacDnlds, they're serving breakfast now."

"Hmmm," I thought, "The pancake meal and anything with caffeine in it to drink. Inuyasha, you want something?"

"Keh. I guess, just get me the same thing as her," He muttered.

"Do you think she'd want something?" Bankotsu asked, gesturing to Kagura.

"Well uh…"

"Number three, hold the butter- and change the side of hash browns to a biscuit," Inuyasha said simply.

"How did you…" I began to ask.

"That's what my idiot brother always gets; just get two of that for him and her, both with coffee- black, nothing in it."

I blinked, for someone who's constantly fighting with their brother; he sure picked up his eating patterns.

Seeing my perplexed expression, he retorted, "What?"

"I'm surprised you know all that."

He frowned, "When the idiot makes you pick it up for him because 'You're already going there so you might as well take care of my order' all the time, it begins to stick and stuff."

Bankotsu began to walk towards the door, "Okay, we'll be back soon. I'll call you if Musou calls me before we get back."

"All right. Thanks Bankotsu," I said watching him head out. "Well, I'm glad to see he's in better spirits today.

"Yeah…" Inuyasha muttered, looking back over to his brother.

I was just about to say something, when I swore I saw Sesshoumaru stir. Sure enough, his eyes slowly opened and his gaze drifted down to Kagura.

"Sleeping like that isn't good for one's spine," The typical calm, un-amused voice said.

Hearing the voice, Kagura bolted up, and stared at him for a few seconds before bending over and hugging him. "You're okay…"

He very lightly placed his hand on her back, "You should be resting properly. We have a busy day ahead of us, Kagura."

She pulled back and nodded, "We have to make sure Naraku is properly dealt with, find Jakotsu and close this case successfully, I know. Don't worry Sesshoumaru, I think I got enough sleep for now- a little caffeine and I'll be ready to kick anyone's ass who decides to mess with us," She said with a smirk.

He nodded in reply, and then looked to Inuyasha, "I see you stayed."

"Yeah, well, you got a problem with that!" He retorted.

"If you put anything strange in my IV- I will know it," He said, a slight smirk on his face.

"Why would I waste my time doing that when I can easily kick your ass without it? Huh?"

"You think just because I have only one arm that I'll lose to you?" He questioned, having Kagura help him sit up better.

"Oh yeah? Try me!" Inuyasha said, raising his fists.

Sesshoumaru looked to the bedside table, picked up a pen sitting on it, and with perfect aim, nailed his brother in the forehead with it.

Inuyasha glared, then crossed his arms, "Well, I let you have that one because I feel sort of sorry for you, so don't think that you can still beat me!"

It was then that I heard a familiar voice coming from the hallway.

"Mister Sesshoumaru!" The little brown-haired girl cried out rushing in and crawling up onto the bed beside him.

"Rin," He said simply, regarding her.

"I heard that you fought off all the bad guys and that Miss Kagura saved your life and then you got shot and Miss Kagura was hurt and Miss Kagome helped and then Inuyasha helped and then…" She paused to take a breath, "And then you caught Naraku," She said with a wide smile, hugging him.

"Yes, it's over now Rin. We got him."

"I'm sorry you got your arm hurt because of it," Rin mumbled, fidgeting with her dress.

He reached over and placed his hand on her shoulder, "Did you behave yourself?"

"Yup. Rin was good and didn't keep Kohaku up all night this time," She replied cheerfully.

"Kohaku…" I said, turning to the doorway, and sure enough there stood Sango and Miroku. "Sango, Miroku, what are you doing here?"

Sango walked over, "The head nurse called us to bring Rin up. Sesshoumaru had dropped her over at my house last night when he was headed out to the warehouse."

"Oh, I see."

"Kinda of dirty there, Kagome. You and Inuyasha playing a little rough as a victory for taking down Naraku?" Miroku asked with a smirk.

Inuyasha, was not amused as usual, and smacked him on the back of the head. "She was caught in a fire, you pervert."

"Kagome, if you don't think you'll have time to run home, I can stop by and get you some fresh clothes," Sango offered, looking at the singed edges of my outfit.

"Well, I could just call Mama. I'm sure she'd be willing to drop some things by and it would save you the hassle," I replied, pulling out my cell phone and dialing.

"Hello?" I heard my mother's voice over the line.

"Mama, can I ask you a favor?"

"Oh thank goodness you're okay, Kagome. I heard that Naraku was captured and the four detectives involved were at the hospital with varying degrees of injuries."

"Well news sure travels fast…" I muttered.

"Okay dear, what is it you needed?" She questioned.

"Well, we are at the hospital now- I'm fine and so is Inuyasha. As for my clothes though…"

"Oh I understand. Does Inuyasha need something as well? I could pick up something from his house."

"Well, we haven't changed since…"

"Okay and what about the other detectives? Was that your friends Sango and Miroku?"

"Actually, it was Inuyasha's brother and his partner."

"I see. I'll pick up something for them as well. What size does his partner wear?"

I looked to Kagura.

"I should have a spare outfit over at Sesshoumaru's house," She said.

"She says there's a spare outfit at Sesshoumaru's house," I relayed the message.

"All right. I'll head over there then. Their servant knows me well enough, so that shouldn't be a problem. I'll be up there as soon as I can. Bye Kagome."

"Bye Mama," I replied, ending the call.

I glanced back over to the others in the room, and had to stifle a laugh. Rin was currently trying to braid Inuyasha's hair, and as expected, he was protesting rather loudly against it.

"Kid, my hair is fine. Leave it alone!"

"Rin, perhaps we should let Kagome deal with him," Miroku suggested.

"What do you mean by that?" Inuyasha asked glaring at him.

"What?" He said innocently.

Underneath the chaos there, I noticed where Rin must have gotten her hair-styling idea. Taking care his somewhat disheveled hair, due to not only the shootout but also the surgery; Kagura was pulling Sesshoumaru's long white-hair back into a braid.

Feeling a hand on my shoulder, I looked over to Sango, "You okay Kagome? You're a bit quieter than usual."

I smiled, "It's just been a long night. But at least, everyone's okay. We just have Jakotsu left to find, and everything can go back to normal."

"If you can call this normal," She remarked, gesturing to the miniature-wrestling match that had broken out between Inuyasha and Miroku.

"Yeah," I replied with a smile, "I call this normal."

"Now you had to go and bring more people that we didn't get food for," I heard the voice from the doorway remark.

I looked up to see Suikotsu carrying several bags.

Kikyou glanced about the room and frowned, "They must have gotten some sleep, considering how enthusiastic they are this early."

Handing over some of the various bags to Sango and I, Suikotsu turned to her and placed his hands on her arms, rubbing them gently. "Aww, I'm sorry Kikyou. I didn't mean to keep you up. You know that right?" He leaned down, trying to peer under her black bangs, "You're not mad are you?"

"Tired, not mad," She muttered in reply.

"You're shift's over right?" He asked.

"It was over about thirty minutes after you got here with Bankotsu last night," Kikyou said, somewhat darkly.

"Oh, ooops," He scratched the back of his head, then without a word more, he picked her up in his arms.

"Suikotsu, what are you…"

"I'm gonna take you somewhere to sleep, we both need some sleep." He explained, and then turned to me, "Miss Kagome, Bankotsu should be in with the drinks soon. Just tell him Kikyou and I went to my place, and once he's done here he's free to come over."

I nodded, "Sure thing Suikotsu, thanks again for everything."

Things were looking up for once, and I could only hope that it stayed that way.

Bankotsu appeared in the doorway a few moments after Suikotsu had left, balancing the drinks in his arms.

"Bankotsu here- let me help," I said taking two drinks from him.

"Thanks. Oh, and Kagome- some reporter guy was asking for you. He should be up in a few minutes."

I blanched. "_Oh no- not Kouga._ _I am not in the mood to deal with Kouga…_"

Then again, if that was the worst of my troubles- then things really were looking up.

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Preview for Chapter 19-

With the news of Naraku's capture spreading like wildfire throughout the news network, it's no surprise that one of the city's reporters wants an interview with the detectives that managed to bring the infamous man in. But with friends, family, and slightly-sleep deprived people, it could cause more trouble than you first think.


	19. Chapter 19

Author's Notes: This chapter was revised on January 24, 2006.

--------------------------------------------

**-June 8th-**

**Entry at 10:33AM**

Bracing myself for trouble, but hopeful nonetheless, I decided I would ask about this reporter, "Bankotsu, did you see what the reporter looked like?"

He blinked, wondering why the strange question, then with a shrug replied, "Long black hair worn in a ponytail and he was wearing a brown suit, that's all I noticed."

I sighed, that was Kouga all right.

"If it's that stupid Kouga, I'm going to kick his puny ass out of here," Inuyasha muttered between bites of his food.

"How did some reporters already find out about everything is what I'm wondering," Sango spoke up, after smacking Miroku's hand away from her leg.

"Probably paid off someone down at the police station. Their kind has no shame," Kagura remarked handing Sesshoumaru his coffee. "I swear those wolves of society would sell over their young if it got them a good headline."

I laughed a bit nervously, "I'm taking it you aren't fond of reporters, Kagura."

"They made a case Sesshoumaru and I handled awhile back on a drug bust out as if we were just in the right place at the right time. Pretentious assholes, we worked long hours to bring those two men in." She fumed, balling her hand into a fist.

"Kagura," Sesshoumaru stated simply, and she seemed to relax. Apparently there was something in how he said her name that was enough to calm her down.

"Sorry about that, I still hold it against those reporters for making that whole case into a minor little coincidence."

"It's understandable," He stated calmly, taking another sip of his coffee and looking down to Rin who was doodling something on her coloring pad. He raised an eyebrow as he tried to decipher what the drawing was of.

Noting Sesshoumaru's gaze shifting, Kagura too looked in that direction and then knelt down to Rin's level, "What are you drawing there, Rin?"

She smiled, "My new family now that Mr. Naraku's gone," Holding up a rough doodle, I was from my position able to decipher the various people in it.

Towards the middle, was Rin with Sesshoumaru and Kagura standing behind her. Each of them had a hand on the little girl's shoulder and Kagura was leaning towards Sesshoumaru. Beside that small group, stood Miroku and Sango with Kohaku in front of them, looking towards Rin. And to the other side, were Inuyasha and I. It might have been simplistic, but something about it brought a smile to my face.

"That's really nice, kid," Kagura remarked.

The little girl looked over to Bankotsu who was leaning against the wall, "I wanted to draw Mr. Bankotsu with his special friend Mr. Jakotsu, but I don't know what Mr. Jakotsu looks like yet. I'm sorry," She apologized with a bow of her head.

Glancing up from the spot he was staring at on the floor, Bankotsu smiled and then walked over and sat next to Rin, "That's all right. I can help you draw him if you want."

"Okay!" She responded cheerful.

The entire room seemed to watch as Bankotsu reached into his pocket and pulled out his wallet- producing a photo with slightly tattered edges. He pointed, "That's Jakotsu. I know, he looks a bit effeminate through the face, but I guarantee he's even more muscular than I am."

"Really? He must be very strong then," The young girl replied, looking between the picture and Bankotsu.

"Yeah, Jakotsu's a very strong guy," He muttered almost reflectively.

"Okay! I'm gonna try and draw Mr. Jakotsu now, but I might need you to help me Mr. Bankotsu," She said, fidgeting with her dress.

He smiled, and shifted to a more comfortable sitting position beside her, "That's fine. I'll just sit here until you need my help then."

"Okay, Mr. Bankotsu!" Her bubbly voice replied, before picking up another crayon and beginning to add the other two characters into the picture.

Sango walked over quietly, and I looked up as she gently touched my arm, "It's nice to see him like this. He really is like a big kid deep down it seems."

I nodded and replied, "Yeah, I'm glad to see he's feeling a bit better. I just hope we can find Jakotsu soon so he doesn't end up depressed again."

"I'm sure we will. If you want, Miroku and I can go and try and meet up with Musou if you guys don't have the chance to get down there right away due to the police and the reporters."

"We might have you do that after awhile, but since I'm not sure of the situation completely, we might also need someone to watch Rin."

"That's okay; just let me know, Kagome," Sango said with a smile.

"I'm gonna need help now," The little girl's voice caused me to look back over in that direction.

"May I?" Bankotsu questioned, lifting up a crayon himself.

"Sure!" She responded cheerfully.

I couldn't help but laugh a bit to myself. It's not everyday you see a notorious gang leader sitting and coloring with a little girl.

He explained as he drew, "See, Jakotsu's hair is twisted up like this and he always wears a hairpin in the twist to secure it."

"Oooh, what color? What color?" Rin asked, bouncing up and down.

Bankotsu reached into his jacket and gently handed the ornate blue and red hairpin to the little girl. She cradled it in her two hands.

"It has butterflies on it," She remarked, Bankotsu smiled.

"Yeah, Jakotsu always liked the butterflies."

"Can I draw a pretty butterfly on Mr. Jakotsu's shirt?" She questioned.

He nodded and handed her a crayon, "Use this color. Jakotsu likes purple and pink a lot."

"Okay!" Came the cheerful reply as the girl went back to drawing on the picture, the young leader watching over her shoulder.

I looked back over to see if Inuyasha was still glaring at his brother from his place against the wall or if he was just being uncharacteristically quiet. Instead, I noted him looking out the door and down the hallway.

"He's coming," He spat, crossing his arms.

"Who is coming?" I asked walking over.

Before my partner could reply, the person he spoke of walked in through the door.

"Keh. I should have known it was your scum-ish smell that was coming from down the hall," Inuyasha said smugly as none other than Kouga entered.

And wasting no time in picking up the usual fight, the black-haired man stormed over and got right in Inuyasha's face, "Shut up, you freak of nature- at least I don't have animal ears coming out of my head!"

"Oh yeah!"

"Inuyasha, Kouga- calm down!" I said, trying to keep them from starting a fistfight here.

Kouga paused, then pulled me into a hug, "Oh Kagome- I haven't seen you in forever. I got a new job down at the station and I thought I'd never see you again. You poor dear, being left with this science-project gone wrong must be horrible."

"Eheh…."

"You forgot one thing, Kouga," A new voice spoke up.

"Huh?" He blinked, looking to the doorway.

"You got a new job down at the station- _and_ a fiancée," The red-haired woman stated with a bit of irritation as she entered.

"Ay…Ayame… I didn't forget, it's just I haven't seen Kagome in a long time and…" He attempted to reason with her.

"Kouga. Let her go," She said with a sigh.

"Oops," He muttered, relinquishing his hold on me.

"Fiancée?" I questioned.

With a smile, the woman walked over, "The name's Ayame Shoubu. Kouga seems to keep forgetting he'd proposed to me awhile back," She said, holding up the hand with her ring on it. Then, she extended a hand.

I reached out and shook it, noting the excess amount of pressure she used as if to tell me to back off her man. Honestly, I had no interest whatsoever in Kouga. Sure, he was nice- and hopelessly infatuated with me- but well, that over possessive type doesn't go over well with me.

"You better stay away from Kagome, you stupid stinky reporter!" I heard the ever-familiar voice of Inuyasha retorting and began to rethink my theory on men.

"Well at least I'm better than some low-rank private-eye!"

I ran a hand down my face. The second you got these two within a mile of each other, this always happened.

"Kouga! We have business to do. Fight with him later," Ayame said placing a hand on his shoulder.

"But he's insulting me!" He reasoned.

"And you probably deserved it. Now, we have a deadline to meet- where's Ginta and Hakkaku with the camera?"

Kouga blanched, "You mean they weren't following you?"

"Kouga…." She said with a warning tone.

"I'll…I'll go look," He replied, dashing out the doorway.

"You'll have to excuse him. He can be a little- irritating at times," Ayame stated with a nervous smile.

I was about to reply when I heard something from the hall.

"Did they go this way?" A voice echoed down the hallway.

"You should have been watching!" Another voice retorted.

"No, you should have!"

It went silent for a moment, before both voices yelled out, "Kouga! Kouga! Wait up!"

Without a word, Ayame walked over and looked out the door- calling out to those out there, "Ginta! Hakkaku! Down here!"

"Miss Ayame!" One of the two men said, skidding to a halt outside the doorway, "I'm sorry, we got lost."

The other man ran a hand through his white-mohawk and leaned against the doorframe catching his breath, a camcorder was under his arm.

"Did you two see Kouga on your way up here?" She asked, pulling one of the rolls of cords off the gray and black-haired man's shoulder and sitting them on the floor.

"Nope, I didn't, did you Hakkaku?"

"Sure didn't Ginta. We just happened to turn this way."

"That Kouga, he's completely…." Ayame began only to be cut off as Kouga appeared in the doorway.

"Ayame, I…." He grinned on seeing the two there, "I found them."

"Right. Okay, let's get this started so we can still get it out by the noon show time."

With that, she picked up the cords and tossed them to Ginta, he staggered as he felt the impact of the weight and tilted slightly off-balance due to it.

Ayame straightened out her skirt, fixed the small purple iris in her lapel and turned to Kouga, "How's my hair?"

"Um… okay?" He said, clearly unsure as how to reply.

She grabbed him by the collar and pulled him forward until they were nose to nose, "Kouga. I asked- how is my hair? Now what are you going to tell me?"

"It's fine?"

"Better than the usual I suppose," She sighed, releasing her grasp on him.

"Wow, you two fight almost as much as Kagome and Inuyasha," Miroku murmured from the side of the room, earning himself two glares and a pillow thrown at him. A pillow, might I add, that _someone_ yanked out from under the head of their half-brother.

"Inuyasha!" Both Kagura's voice and mine berated him.

Sesshoumaru simply frowned, and as expected, said nothing but retorted in his own silent manner by pushing the unsuspecting Inuyasha from behind, causing him to stumble forward.

"Hey! What'd I do?" He retorted.

His brother glared, "If I have neck problems due to your lack of intellectual brain mass, I won't be pleased."

"Keh," Inuyasha stormed over and picked up the pillow, tossing it back at his brother, "There's your stupid pillow- I hope you're happy."

"Jubilant," Sesshoumaru replied entirely deadpan.

Switching my attention from the typical brotherly squabble, I noticed that Ayame was helping the two crewmen set up the cords while Kouga fidgeted with something on the camera itself. I took a deep breath and walked over to stop Inuyasha from getting too violent while Sesshoumaru was still recovering.

"What?" He exclaimed as I held back his arm, trying to act innocent.

"Not now, okay?"

"Fine. Whatever…" He muttered.

"Okay," Ayame spoke up, notepad in hand, "I need to get some of the facts sorted out before we begin. You're Mr. Sesshoumaru Taiyoukai and you're his partner, Miss Kagura Nishikaze, am I correct?"

The two in question nodded in reply, and Ayame jotted down some quick notes, then she turned to Inuyasha and me.

"And I take it you are Mr. Inuyasha Taiyoukai, the younger half-brother of Sesshoumaru and you must be his partner, Miss Kagome Higurashi."

Knowing Inuyasha wouldn't reply, I did, "That's correct."

She scrawled a bit more down then with a smile look at all of us, "Okay, just going to ask some questions about how you captured Naraku, your feelings on the matter- that sort of thing. Just try to act natural and don't get to close to the camera."

"You're interviewing us, live?" Kagura questioned.

"It's a big story and if we don't go live, I'm certain every other station in the city will beat us to it."

"_A live interview…_" I thought to myself. This was going to be interesting to say the least- very interesting.

-----------------------------------

Preview for Chapter 20:

Interviews, clues, drawings and new clothes- hopefully amidst this mess the case will be closer to it's end, but considering the people involved, it might take awhile.


	20. Chapter 20

Author's Notes: This chapter was revised on January 24, 2006.

--------------------------------------------

**-June 8th-**

**Entry at 11:37AM**

As the reporters began to set up their equipment, my brain finally processed something. I was still in the tattered, burnt and ash-covered outfit from last night.

"Um…can this live report wait just a bit longer?" I asked tentatively.

Ayame glanced at her watch, "Definitely not. I'm already running behind on time."

"But my mom will be here very soon with some clean clothes for all of us to change into. We're still in what we wore during the capture last night," I explained, hoping to buy us some time.

The female reporter looked from Sesshoumaru's tattered, bloody, blue shirt and white pants, to Kagura's red oriental blood stained dress, to my own green blouse and black skirt that were covered in ashes and a bit of blood. Inuyasha was the best off, having just a few dirt smudges on his baggy khaki pants and a rip or two in the sleeves of his white shirt.

"Don't worry, it'll add to the appeal of the viewers to see how badly you were injured," Ayame said with a shrug, turning back to Kouga and adjusting the camera he balanced on his shoulder.

While her back was turned the quiet duo of Rin and Bankotsu, who'd been coloring, finally make their presence known.

"It's done! Mr. Sesshoumaru, the picture's done!" She said jumping up from where she sat on the other side of the bed, and shoving the drawing into the less than amused face of the elder Taiyoukai brother.

He raised an eyebrow in observation, and replied simply. "It's…nice."

Bankotsu stood then, brushing himself off from sitting on the floor. He smiled as the little girl began to point to all the people and ramble about them, and then looked down to the hairpin he held in his right hand.

"You're…you're…that gang leader!" Kouga spluttered, catching sight of Bankotsu, and almost dropping the camera in the process.

Bankotsu blinked innocently, as Kouga shoved the camcorder into Ayame's arms and stormed over to face off with him. I was about to go stop them, but Inuyasha put his arm out to stop me.

"I wouldn't try it, Kagome. If they get rough, I'll step in," He muttered to me, watching as the two glared at each other.

"What are you doing here? Are you spying on us? You're in with Naraku too, right?" The male reporter inquired, grabbing Bankotsu up by his collar.

Eyes narrowing, the Kotsu gang leader used his left hand to grab unto Kouga's upper arm and began to apply pressure, "Let go of me. Now."

Kouga loosened his grip slightly, but still held his collar, "Why are you with these detectives? Answer me."

"There was that report of one of the gang members going missing, now that I think about it," Ayame pondered aloud.

"Oh, getting Naraku to kill off your unwanted men is that it?" Kouga accused.

I cringed, already dreading Bankotsu's reaction.

Sure enough, the young leader released the hold on the reporter's arm and threw a quick punch, landing square on Kouga's jaw.

His voice seethed, "Don't you ever say I killed my men. I'm not like that. And I would have never hurt Jakotsu, ever! Do you hear that you bastard!"

Looking up from where he'd skidded onto the floor, Kouga spat, "And why am I supposed to believe you?"

Bankotsu was about to go over and pummel some sense into the reporter, when none other than Ayame herself stepped in.

Storming over, she shoved the camera into Bankotsu's arms, "Hold this."

She pushed up her sleeves, pulled Kouga up by his tie, and landed a sound smack across his face.

The room fell silent, even the once angered Bankotsu was looking on with widened eyes at the scene before us.

"Stop it Kouga," She said quietly, "Don't hold it against him for the past."

"Ayame…" He said quietly standing.

Hanging her head down, her reddish hair covering her face, she spoke softly, "I don't want you fighting with him because of what happened to me, okay?"

Curiosity getting the best of me, I hesitantly spoke up, "Um…can I ask what happened to you. It wasn't anything involving the Kotsu gang, was it?"

She shook her head in the negative, and mumbled a reply; "I just lost some of my family when two gangs got in a gun fight when I was younger. Kouga's never trusted any of them since."

"I see," I responded, not quite sure what else to say.

"Sorry, I slapped you Kouga. I…"

He quietly embraced her, pushing the hair back from her face, "It's okay. I was being an idiot again."

She smirked, caressing the red mark on his cheek, "You admitted it this time."

"What?" Kouga asked blinking.

"That you're an idiot," She whispered, toying with the end of his ponytail.

"I did not!" He protested.

"You're being forgetful again," She retorted, giving a slight tug to the black hair.

Inuyasha rolled his eyes and crossed his arms, "Keh, save your foreplay for later. This is disgusting."

Ayame coughed, composing herself, "That's right we have to get this report done."

Kouga, on the other hand just glared at Inuyasha, "What's the matter you stupid detective? Having problems seeing that someone can be romantic and you can't?"

"Hmph," My partner snorted, "All I'm seeing is that you fight like a married couple."

"Oh yeah, well…" Kouga grabbed up Ayame about the waist, and dipped her down as he kissed her.

"Blech…mush." Inuyasha muttered, turning to look away.

I sighed; my partner could be such a giant kid when it came to romance.

Kouga returned his fiancée to her upright position and leveled a smug grin at Inuyasha.

"See. I can be romantic, so there!"

Ayame just blinked at the sudden affection, interesting herself in fixing the iris in her lapel again.

"Keh," Came the only reply from Inuyasha.

"Neh Ayame, the time…" Ginta muttered from by the wall.

"Aw shit! Kouga- the camera now!" She ordered, bustling back into place.

"Huh? Ah okay," He replied, lifting the piece of equipment back out of Bankotsu's arms.

"Rin. Go over with them," Sesshoumaru stated simply, gesturing to where Miroku and Sango stood in the corner.

"Okay!" She responded, jumping down from her seat on the bedside and picking up her coloring pad and colors before going over.

Ayame paused from her task of assuring the cameras, cords and lighting were set up properly when she caught sight of Bankotsu standing nearby, "Okay, I have to know. Why _are_ you here, sir?"

Bankotsu gestured to Inuyasha and I, "They're trying to help me find that missing member you'd heard about. Jakotsu and I were kind of…close," He explained, hanging his head.

Nodding in reply, she apologized for the earlier incident, "You'll have to pardon what happened earlier. I had no idea the full extent of the situation."

"It's all right." He said with a shrug, walking over and leaning against the back wall.

"Miss Ayame, it's almost noon, the station's going to do a live feed on this," Hakkaku called over from a small monitor he was observing, a headset sitting on his head.

"Just give me the countdown when it comes then," She turned to back to all of us and smiled a bit, "We'll go on the air in just a moment. Kouga is the camera level?"

Kouga pressed the focus button and lined it up with Ayame. "It is now."

"Good."

"Countdown Miss Ayame, in 3, 2, 1. Go!" The crewman called out and the light the other man held flashed on.

"Good afternoon. I'm Ayame Shoubu reporting live from the Ijutsu Hospital and I have with me the four detectives that early this morning managed to finally bring in the infamous Naraku Sarudoushi. Having been associated with everything from murder cases to theft and drugs, Naraku is a name widely known in this town and it is a proud day to know that he is finally in jail where he belongs. Now, let's find out what each of the four who were able to bring him in have to say about it." She turned to Sesshoumaru first, "Mr. Taiyoukai, you've been on the Naraku case the longest, what are you feelings now that you've captured him? And how do you plan to cope with the arm you lost doing so?"

"My feelings?" He asked, eyebrow quirked.

"Yes sir."

"Satisfied. As for the arm- I'll make do."

Ayame blinked at the blunt simplicity of the reply, "Okay what about your partner? Reports say you might not have been injured if she'd not made a mistake. What was this mistake, and would have it have changed things?"

"Now just a damned minute…" Kagura began to protest, obliviously upset at the implication it was her fault.

Sesshoumaru raised a hand to silence her and leveled a glare at the reporters, "And what's to say this 'mistake' didn't aide us in capturing Naraku?"

They all fell quiet.

He continued, "Neither I or my partner consider anything that results in a successful result to be a mistake. Correct Kagura?"

She smiled smugly since Sesshoumaru, had perhaps inadvertently, defended her.

"Correct Sesshoumaru. Given the scenario, had the plan gone as intended, Kagome and Inuyasha wouldn't have stepped in to assist us. Without their backup, it's anyone's guess as to what the result could have been."

The reporters took it all in and Ayame glanced at her notes, "There are rumors that you two are romantically involved. Is this true?"

Kagura blinked, and turned to Sesshoumaru.

Unfazed as usual, he replied, "We share the trust two members of a detective team should. Rumors are what they are."

Sighing, and realizing she wasn't getting anywhere with those two, she turned the camera to Inuyasha and I.

"Miss Higurashi, the police informed us it was a bullet from you that saved both Mr. Taiyoukai's and Miss Nishikaze's lives. How do you feel about that?"

"Well um…" I fidgeted with my hands. "It was luck really. I'd snuck in and they noticed me. They gave me a signal before Naraku detected my presence and I was able to get the shot in while they distracted him."

Ayame nodded and turned to Inuyasha, "Mr. Taiyoukai, your jumping Naraku may have spared your half-brother's life. What were you thinking when you tackled Naraku to the ground?"

"I hope this works," He admitted with a shrug.

I could tell the lack of cooperation was getting to Ayame, "Anything else?" She inquired.

"Sesshoumaru owes me for saving his sorry ass," Inuyasha said haughtily, crossing his arms.

"Well aren't we mature," Sesshoumaru retorted.

"Eheh…okay, a question for both of you," Ayame said turning to the two brothers, "Your father died while trying to solve the Naraku case, and you Sesshoumaru now bear scars on your face that parallel those discovered on your father's body. Do you have any bittersweet feelings of justice now that the case is over?"

"I just did my job," The elder brother stated simply.

"Well, Sesshoumaru had been hogging the case," Inuyasha butted in, "But thanks to me we finally were able to avenge Dad."

I could see Hakkaku holding up his fingers in the background, most likely signaling the time remaining.

"As I'm certain our viewers can see you all received some various injuries in this endeavor. Any regrets?"

Before any of us could reply, a very familiar voice caught my attention coming from the doorway.

"Kagome Dear, I brought your clothes. Sorry for the delay, Buyo got stuck under the sofa again!" My mother called out.

"Shh…Mom, I'm on TV…" I whispered in reply.

"Oh my, my baby's on TV!" She said with delight, turning to my younger brother who was with her, "Did you hear Souta, your sister is on TV now."

"Really? Cool! Is Inuyasha going to be on TV with her?" He questioned.

I knew I was blushing from embarrassment as my family rambled in the background. Luckily, it looked as if Ayame was talking to Kagura and Sesshoumaru about the arm and their other bullet wounds, so I quickly dashed over to talk to my mom.

"Mama, there's a live interview going on. Shh…" I whispered to her.

"Oh, sorry Kagome. I didn't know," She replied with a smile, "I'll just wait here until you're finished then."

"Okay Mama," I replied, going back over to where Inuyasha was.

"One minute!" Hakkaku called out, and Ginta adjusted the light yet again.

Ayame turned back towards us, "Okay, one last question. You two are currently still seeking a missing person associated with the Naraku incident am I correct?"

"Yes, one of the Kotsu gang members was reported missing and we've traced a connection to Naraku."

"Any progress so far?"

"We have several clues, and we'll hopefully wrap things up soon now that Naraku is out of the way."

"Okay, thanks to all of you for your time." She turned back to the camera, "That's all from here, back to you."

And with that, the light went out, and Hakkaku finished counting off the last seconds.

Kouga sighed and took the camera off his shoulder, handing it over to Ginta. "All clear, right Hakkaku?"

"Yup, they got the feed just fine and I was able to minimize that background noise." He explained.

"Good," Ayame said walking over and leaning against the wall, "Can someone get me some water?"

"Um, there's some around here somewhere…" I said looking about.

"Here you go Miss," My mother said handing her a glass. "The pitcher is right on this table if you need more."

"Thanks," The reporter said, taking a few sips.

I slumped down into a nearby chair, suddenly feeling very exhausted.

That's when Souta ran over and started rattling off questions about how we "kicked Naraku's ass." I sighed, almost wishing I was back in the warehouse lurking around. At least it was quieter.

A slight knock on the door was somehow heard over all the chaos in the room. It was Kaede.

"Well I'm glad that we didn't put another bed in this room or I'm afraid we wouldn't have room for everyone," The elderly nurse remarked on seeing the amount of people we had crammed in there.

"What did you need, Kaede?" I said standing.

"The police chief and a little girl were asking around for you, I wanted to know if you wanted to be found."

I saw Sango move from where she stood, and I knew what she was thinking. Mr. Takeda was a nice guy and all, but he still thought that there was something between him and Sango- which there wasn't.

"Give us about twenty minutes, Kaede." I replied.

She nodded and went back out, and I just shook my head, mumbling to myself, "Just when I thought things were going to calm down at least a little…"

------------------------------------------------

Preview for Chapter 21-

With the Police chief coming, it's true some more clues about Naraku might be revealed. But with all the people still around the hospital room and the fact the Chief has a crush on Sango it's sure not going to be a simple discussion.


	21. Chapter 21

Author's Notes: This chapter was revised on January 24, 2006.

Okay, I know I've mentioned his name before in this story, but just in case you don't remember who Kuranosuke Takeda, here's a bit of information on him.

Kuranosuke Takeda (Anime episode 78- Aiming for Sango, Only You) Takeda is a noble whose village was protected by the demon-hunters in Sango's family years before. That's when he first saw Sango, and he's been smitten with her ever since. He wants her to give up traveling and settle down and become his wife. Despite the subtle hints Sango drops, poor Takeda can't seem to understand that she has feelings for someone else, and even when she leaves saying she must "finish her mission" he still holds hopes that she'll return to him and become his wife.

--------------------------------------------

**-June 8th-**

**Entry at 12:41PM**

Sitting back down in the chair, I began to rub at my temples, trying to relieve myself of the headache I was getting. The news crew was beginning to pack up their things while Ayame sorted through her notes, adding a few scribbles now and then. Rin had returned to her place on the floor with her crayons and was working on another masterpiece while Kagura and Sesshoumaru looked on from above. Miroku and Sango were quietly discussing something, but I couldn't make out what from across the room. My little brother, Souta, was interrogating InuYasha; and he was easily weaning all the miniscule details out of my less than amiable partner. I shook my head, that brother of mine was going to either make a good detective or a good reporter when he grew up just due to his inquisitive personality and his natural ability to get people to open up.

As my eyes continued the scan of the room, I caught sight of Bankotsu still quietly leaning against the wall in the corner, rolling Jakotsu's hairpin between his two fingers and every once in awhile, looking to his cell phone. I glanced up to the clock, taking in the time. If we were lucky, we could deal quickly with Mr. Takeda and be down at the warehouse to continue our search for Jakotsu by the late afternoon.

"Kagome, here's the clothing you asked for," My mother's voice penetrated through the dull noise the headache was making.

Looking up, I smiled and took the bundle from her, "Thanks Mama, just sit those for the other's here." I said pointing to the chair as I stood.

"I'll be right back, I need to change," I explained waving my hand as I headed for the bathroom.

Finally coming face to face with my own reflection, I just gaped. My hair was sticking up in all kinds of weird places; I still had some ashes smudged on my face. My shirt was tattered, slightly burnt and ripped in some places, and had black ash on it as well.

I sighed, "Figures the one time I get on TV for something major I look like this…"

Using a cloth to wash my face clean, I quickly changed into the pair of jeans and shirt that my mother had brought up for me. Facing my reflection again, I desperately tried to fix my hair. I was just about to leave the bathroom when I heard an all too familiar voice.

"Sango, darling- I've missed you so much!"

"Mr. Takeda," I heard Sango reply flatly and I peered out the door.

Sango was politely holding back a glare as the Police Chief held her hand, "Sango, what have I told you? We're on better terms than that, aren't we? Come on, call me Kuranosuke."

"Mr. Takeda, I would prefer if we kept ourselves on professional terms," She said firmly.

This didn't stop him though, "It's just like you to be like that, Sango. That's what I love about you- so dedicated to your job and such a tough woman. You know, that secretary job at the station is still open if you want it."

Sango blinked, not so much at Mr. Takeda, but at what was going on behind his back.

While the conversation was going on, Miroku was fuming, and Inuyasha had taken advantage of the situation as usual.

"See- you suck, it's all because you can't keep your hands off of anything with breasts." I heard my less than supportive partner informing Miroku.

The dark haired man continued to glare at the back of Mr. Takeda's head, "I just appreciate the assets that they have been given, that's all."

"Keh. Moron, you need to make up your mind on one, then once you're certain of your feelings- you have to tell her outright," Inuyasha grumbled, and I frowned. People like him should never be giving romantic advice I know they don't follow themselves.

"That's wrong you stupid detective," Kouga butted into the argument, "Girls don't like that. They like it when you just walk up and claim them as your own. You have to take them away from anyone else and protect them from people like this police guy that just think they can move in on your woman."

Shifting my attention back to Sango's plight to avoid Mr. Takeda, I noticed her hand frantically gesturing to me.

"No, Mr. Takeda. We're really busy today, we have to finish working out things with you then we must continue our case. I'm sure Kagome's almost done in the bathroom so you can talk to her _now_." The brown-haired woman intoned, a not so subtle hint to me to get out there before she killed someone.

Making my presence known, I spoke up as I walked out, "Inuyasha, did you want to change now?"

Breaking apart from the male discussion he was involved in, he quirked his head, "Change?"

I sighed and pointed to the chair, "My mom brought up some clothing for you."

"Oh." He walked over and gathered up his clothes.

The door closed behind him, and I looked about, noticing that the crowded room was missing a few people, "Where'd my Mom and brother go?"

"They're out in the hall talking with Naraku's daughter," Kagura said, pointing to them.

I turned, seeing that it was indeed as she said, then asked one more thing, "And what about Bankotsu? Did someone call him up?"

"Not sure, he just said he was going to walk around some while the cops were here. I guess he was afraid it would cause trouble," The black-haired woman replied.

The news crew was just about all packed up, and Ayame waked over to me, handing me a business card, "Here's my card, Kagome. Just remember, the last name _will_ be changing soon." She shot a glare over towards Kouga.

"Huh? What do you mean, Ayame?" He blinked.

She drug a hand down her face, then looked back up to me, "I'll invite you if you want."

"It's up to you," I replied, knowing that until she walked down that aisle this slight air of rivalry for Kouga would exist between us. I figured, there was no use trying to tell her I had no interest in him; since he's so overly forward, it's easy to get the wrong idea.

"Ginta, Hakkaku- let's go." She called back to the two other men.

As the four began to head out, Kouga paused and took my hands into his, "Kagome, I'm really glad you were safe after fighting against Naraku. You promise me you won't do anything dangerous like that again, okay? If you need someone to handle it, just call me in to do it."

"Eheh…" I laughed nervously, until a voice growled from behind him as the figure emerged from the bathroom.

"If she needs help she has me, moron! I'm her partner damnit!" Inuyasha seethed pulling Kouga away from me.

With a 'hmph' he pried the hands from him and was just about to retort when Ayame yelled at him from the doorway, "Kouga, now!"

"Coming Ayame!" He called back, leveling a glare at Inuyasha and waving to me as he left, "Bye Kagome- see you around!"

"Uh…bye Kouga." I replied, turning back to Mr. Takeda and hoping Sango hadn't killed him yet.

"See, she's ready to talk to you right now, Mr. Takeda." Sango said forcefully and I quickly walked over.

"Okay Mr. Takeda, what did we find out about Naraku's condition?" I asked before he could continue speaking with Sango.

He blinked, "Naraku?" Thinking for a moment, it finally hit him, "Ah yes, the condition with Naraku, he's currently being evaluated at a mental hospital."

"Evaluated?" Kagura questioned.

"They think he's under some deep-state hypnosis," The Police Chief answered.

"I suppose that would account for the strange reaction. As for the puppet master behind it though, do we have any leads?" The dark-haired woman spoke up after glancing to Sesshoumaru.

"Not yet, we think there's someone that does have some information though- we just have to pry it out of them," He replied, then he looked out the door, "I can leave the kid here if you want to talk to her a little. I have other business to attend to in the hospital."

"If you could, there are some things I'd like to ask her," I said, looking over to Inuyasha.

"All right then, I'll be back in a little while." He turned to leave, then paused, "Sango, you can come with me if you want."

She rolled her eyes, "No, it's best I stay here and do my job."

"You're such a devoted detective," He smiled, "You have to love a woman so dedicated to her work." Shaking it from his head, he walked out the door and knelt next to Kanna who was still talking with my brother.

"Yes?" The pale girl inquired.

"I'll be back, but these nice people want to talk to you, okay?"

"Okay," She said flatly, turning towards the room.

Once Mr. Takeda was gone down the hallway, she turned back to my brother, "Souta, your sister isn't mean is she?"

He shook his head 'no', "Don't worry Kanna, Kagome knows that you're just worried about your Dad. She's going to help you get him back, okay? So just…cheer up."

Souta placed a hand on her shoulder and smiled, Kanna seemed to show a slight sign of content emotion in return before making her way over towards us.

As I was just about to say something, I noticed her pull something from the pocket of her white dress, a small white envelope with nothing written on the outside.

"For you," Kanna said in her typical soft voice, handing it to me.

I opened it hastily, and sure enough, there was a simple index card with a small amount of text on it.

"_One is safe, yet troubled still. One is fading, faster now –X_"

"Kanna, who gave you this?" I asked stooping to her level.

"Dad's friend," She replied.

I paused and thought back over things, then spoke again, "The one who's been caring for you?"

She nodded.

"Can I ask you something else?" I decided it was worth a try.

Quiet for a moment, she finally responded, "Yes."

"Have you and this friend of your Father's been watching him this whole time?"

"I go and see Dad twice a week, even though I'm not supposed to talk to him," Her soft emotionless voice answered.

"So you just look in and check on him?" I was getting somewhere with this, and figured if I kept it up I might discover more.

Nodding once again in reply, I continued to piece it together in my mind.

"One of these notes told us to 'save them both.' Whom did you want us to help?" My breath caught in my throat in anticipation, if it was what I suspected, we had another lead.

"Dad," Kanna paused, then continued after looking about the room, "And a man with pretty long black hair and a purple tank top on that was being held there."

"_Jakotsu,_" My mind guessed. Taking this new information, I began to piece the picture all together. Figuring one last question wouldn't hurt, I glanced about, making sure that Bankotsu was still out of the room, and asked one more thing, "Kanna, do you know anything about a gold ring?"

She shook her head in the negative. I sighed and offered her a smile, "Okay, thanks anyways. You were a big help."

With all this new information, I was really wanting to see what Musou had found out down at the warehouse, but I knew we had to get Kanna back with Mr. Takeda first.

"Hmm, I wonder where else he had to go…" I mumbled aloud.

"He is talking with the two other officers here," Kanna said, her quiet voice almost unheard.

"Other officers?" Kagura questioned coming over.

The pale girl nodded, "They were talking before he came up here."

"What about, can we ask?" The other female detective asked.

"Mr. Kisai's son and Dad's condition," Came the reply.

"Mr. Kisai? Who's he?" Inuyasha asked walking up beside me.

"I don't know," Kanna said in return, the room falling quiet.

"Kagome, we're going home now dear!" My mother called out.

I waved back, "Thanks again Mama, it was a big help."

"No problem, you call me if you need anything else."

"Okay Mama," I replied, noting Souta walking back over to Kanna.

"Kanna, I …well…" He took a deep breath, "I hope we can hang out again sometime, you're really cool."

The girl blinked, then in her emotionless voice replied, "You're 'cool' too, Souta."

My brother smiled then, and gave her a quick hug before dashing out the door, "See ya Kanna. Bye sis, bye Inuyasha!"

I could hear my partner muttering something about 'stupid Naraku's kid not being cool' and just shook my head.

The room fell quiet again and I just observed the goings on. Miroku had returned to trying to win over Sango, without much luck given her already irritable mood. Sesshoumaru sat propped up on his bed silently, watching Rin as she colored in another picture. Kagura had drifted back over to the bedside, and was handing her partner a glass of water when Kaede entered the room.

"Ah, I see the girl found you, but where's Takeda?"

"He was talking to two other officers about a Mr. Kisai's son. That's all we know," I said with a shrug.

"Mr. Kisai's son? Shippou Kisai? He's a patient here," The elderly nurse said in return.

"He is?" I began to put some facts together. _Takeda said they had someone else they could pry information from, and now he wants to speak to a boy who's in this hospital._ _Could they be the same person?_ Figuring it was worth a shot; I spoke up, "May I ask what room number this Shippou is in?"

"Sixty-eight on the children's wing."

A satisfied smile crept onto my face. _If Shippou is the one we need to talk to in order to discover who's controlling Naraku, then we'll just go down there and ask him some questions ourselves._

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Chapter 22 Preview-

A young boy named Shippou might hold the key to finding out who is behind Naraku, but the youngster has a grudge against the police that might keep him from telling anyone what he knows. Can Kagome manage to get him to talk or will the young girl that always visits him help him finally come to terms with his father's death?


	22. Chapter 22

Author's Notes: This chapter was revised on January 24, 2006.

And if you can't remember who Chiyo and Yuuta are- they are the little girl and boy that are with Suikotsu in his village at the base of Mt. Hakurei. Chiyo being the girl that always carries the small baby on her back and Yuuta the young boy that Suikotsu attacks when his personalities first switch back.

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**-June 8th-**

**Entry at 1:45PM**

Kaede excused herself, "Well, if you need help finding your way down there, just ask someone. I've got to get back to other patients."

"Okay, thank you," I replied, watching the elderly nurse leave.

With a sigh I looked about the room. I was just about to let everyone else know that I was going to go see what information this young boy could give us when a cell phone rang. Reaching down, I checked my phone- but it wasn't mine. Kagura had also glanced to hers, but it was Sango's that was the one being called.

"Hello?" She answered, "Ah, hello Dad, what's up? Last minute call into work? Okay, I understand, I'll come watch Kohaku until you get back from it. No, Kagome and the others will be fine as long as I can catch back up with them once you're finished. Okay, bye."

Finishing up the call, she turned to me, "Kagome, I…"

"It's all right," I replied, deducing the situation from the half of the conversation I could pick up, "How long do you think it'll take?"

"It's just a standard termite problem. Shouldn't take over two hours," Sango replied.

"Termites?" Kagura questioned.

Sango nodded, "My Father is an exterminator. He takes care of your typical household pests, and sometimes the unusual wild animal problems."

Nodding in understanding, Kagura looked over to Rin.

"I can take her with me if you think it'd be best," Sango spoke up.

"Sesshoumaru?" The dark-haired woman asked, looking up to her partner for the answer.

"She can go," He stated simply.

Rin looked up from where she was coloring and over to Sango, "I get to go back and play with Kohaku?" She questioned hopefully.

Sango smiled, "Yeah, come on, I'm sure Kohaku's bored right now."

"Okay!" The young girl said cheerfully, pausing to jump up onto the bed next to Sesshoumaru.

He raised an eyebrow at her, and she carefully hugged his less-injured side.

"Get better soon, Mr. Sesshoumaru. I'll let you use some of my pretty flower Band-Aids if it'll make you feel better faster," She said with all sincerity.

I had to refrain from laughing, due to the mental image of Sesshoumaru with one of those pink-floral patterned bandages made for little girls, and I could tell Inuyasha was just about to say something about it himself when Rin jumped down and came over towards us.

"Inuyasha, don't worry- there are enough of the Band-Aids for you to have a few too. Mr. Sesshoumaru just has a big cut."

The tips of his ears twitched and he frowned, finally muttering, "No thanks kid. Sesshoumaru can use them all if he wants."

"It's so nice of you to share," Sesshoumaru's calm voice retorted, an edge of sarcasm to it.

Rin looked back over towards Sesshoumaru and then turned to Kagura, going over and hugging her legs. "Miss Kagura can have some too, and I'll draw a pretty picture of you and Mr. Sesshoumaru doing business."

Kagura laughed nervously, "Sure kid. You do that."

Sango waited as Rin gathered up her things and walked over to her, and then turned towards me, "Okay then, I'll be at home if you need me, Kagome. Don't hesitate to call if something comes up."

I was about to say something, when I noted Miroku edging his way behind Sango towards the door.

"Keh, and if we need you Miroku, I suppose we can call Sango as well?" Inuyasha noted aloud.

"Eheh," He nervously rubbed the back of his head, "I just figured she might need some help with the kids… yeah, that's it."

Inuyasha and I both narrowed our eyes at the lame excuse.

"Then I suppose you can clean up any messes they make," Sango replied, heading out.

"Hey…I…uh… wait! Sango!" Miroku stammered running out after her.

I shook my head- those two would never change.

"Kagome?" I heard Kagura question.

"Hmm?" I glanced over in her direction.

"Sesshoumaru and I will take Kanna back to Mr. Takeda once we change our clothes. We have some more questions to ask him now that his distraction isn't here." She explained, looking to the pale child as she quietly stood there looking into the mirror that hung around her neck.

"I should be down in the children's wing seeing what we might be about to find out from that Kisai boy," I said in return.

"All right, we'll probably run into you down there since Takeda was headed that way as well," Kagura said, picking up the clothes from the chair.

I turned to go out, pausing to tug at Inuyasha's sleeve, "Come on- you too."

"Keh, whatever. I don't want to deal with the annoying brats."

"Fine then," I said walking out, him following me, "Then you can go buy some candy and meet me in room sixty-eight."

"Candy?" He asked blinking.

"A little bit of persuasion if the boy is hesitant to open up to us."

"Whatever," He muttered, sticking out his hand.

"What?" I paused, and looked to him.

"I need some cash for it, I'm not using mine."

Sighing, I handed over some change and we parted ways.

Going down the halls of the hospital I entered the children's wing. It was then that I noticed Bankotsu sitting in the play area with a small girl and boy.

Seated in front of a television with some sort of game system hooked up to it, it appeared that the two children were playing a racing game.

"Man Yuuta, you're falling behind," The brown-haired girl said with a laugh.

The short, black-haired boy stuck his tongue out and retorted, "That's just because you had Mr. Bankotsu help you."

"He offered to help you too, but you said you could handle it."

"Hey now, don't fight…" Bankotsu intervened, picking up the third controller, "Because I'm going to enter the race late and beat you both."

The two children protested, and the Kotsu gang leader just laughed. Sure enough, moments later, he'd beaten them both and the game was over.

I was just about to speak up and call out to Bankotsu when another child came up behind him, tugging on his braid.

"Come on bro, Mr. Takeda's looking for you."

_Mr. Takeda?_ I questioned to myself, wondering how a child knew the Police chief.

Bankotsu turned, blinking in confusion, "Excuse me?"

The child released their hold on his hair, "Oh sorry- I thought you were my bro."

He smiled, "Oh, I see. Are you lost? Should I get a nurse?"

"No. Hiten's just gotten himself lost," The young dark-haired child replied.

"So you're looking for someone that looks like me?"

"He's got long black hair like yours that he always wears in a braid."

Smiling, Bankotsu replied, "Okay, if I see him, I'll let him know you were looking for him. What's your name?"

"Souten."

"Okay Souten, are you going to keep looking?" Bankotsu asked, tilting his head a bit.

"Just tell him I'm visiting Shippou if you find him."

With that, the child ran off down the hall.

Figuring having someone that knew Shippou with me might help; I quickly followed and caught up with them.

"Excuse me, little boy?"

Glaring, the child defiantly crossed their arms, "I'm a girl, thank you very much."

I offered a nervous smile, "Sorry. You know Shippou Kisai right?"

"What's it to ya?" She retorted.

"Well, I need to speak to him. I'd heard that he had something to do with Naraku, and since my detective agency has just turned Naraku over to the police, I wanted to…you know…um…" I paused, trying to figure out how to word this.

"Oh, so you're one of the detectives. The whole hospital is talking about it practically. Well, I'm in a good mood, so come on. I'll take you to Shippou's room."

Following her down the hall, she paused and knocked on a door, calling out, "Hey, Shippou you awake?"

"Souten? Sure, come on in!" He replied.

She went in and I slowly peeked my head into the room. There was a young boy with reddish-orange hair and it appeared that he was being hospitalized for a broken leg and maybe some other broken bones from the cast and gauze I saw. Seemingly pleased to the see the other visitor, I cautiously entered.

"Is this a friend of yours Souten?" He asked seeing me come in.

She nodded in the negative, but explained, "It's one of the detectives that just caught Naraku. I think she wants to talk to you."

Shippou looked as me suspiciously and I offered a nervous smile.

"Did you really catch him?" He asked skeptically.

"He's being handled by the police right now," I replied, a bit confused at why the boy flinched when I said 'police.'

"Then you didn't solve anything. The police will just screw it up and let him go free," The boy muttered.

"Shippou, I told you those two cops didn't mean it. It was an accident," Souten spoke up, placing a hand on his.

He pushed it away, "They killed my Father and still couldn't capture Naraku. I don't trust them at all- the pathetic blundering idiots just work for the system."

I blinked, not only caught off guard by the situation, but also by his highly advanced vocabulary for a child his age. Concluding that his issue was with the police and not us, I quickly came up with a strategy to get what information we needed.

"Well Shippou, you see that's why I need to talk to you. We think Naraku's being controlled by someone else, but the police aren't buying it. And I'd really hate for them to end up locking him away or killing him if he's truly innocent. He does have a young daughter that he'd be leaving behind if the police charged him falsely."

Shippou narrowed his eyes at me, obviously trying to see if I was telling the truth or not.

"What's your name, Miss Detective?" He asked.

I blinked, not used to being the one interrogated, and answered, "It's Kagome Higurashi."

"Kagome…" He paused and then smiled, "I like you. So what do you want to know?"

I inwardly breathed a sigh of relief that the boy bought the story and risked walking further into the room.

"Okay, I'd over heard the police chief saying there was a young boy here that might have some information, so when I asked Miss Kaede about you, she sent me here. I just would like it if you could tell me anything you know about Naraku."

He nodded and motioned to Souten, "Would visuals be helpful?"

Not knowing quite what he meant by that, I nodded in agreement just in case.

"All right," He took the crayons and notepad as he spoke, "About eighteen days ago, my Father was apprehended by this guy and left me tied up at my house."

Quickly sketching, he showed a picture that I quickly recognized as Musou. Nodding for Shippou to continue, I made a mental note to ask Musou about all of this.

Switching colors and flipping pages on the notepad, he spoke as he drew, "Unbeknownst to the captor, I was more than capable of freeing myself from my bonds. Once that task was dealt with, I called up the police. At first, they said they couldn't do anything until forty-eight hours had passed, being as it was a missing persons case. Seeing that they weren't going to be of much assistance, I decided to try my luck at something else. I knew, unless the captor was looking for it, my Father should still have his palm-computer with him, and if so, I could contact him via that and have him tell me his location. That is when it began."

"Keh, Kagome why are you letting some brat tell you a bedtime story," I heard the distinct voice of Inuyasha mutter from the doorway.

I frowned, "Hey now, be nice to Shippou. Where's that candy I'd asked you to get?"

Standing, I walked over and confronted my partner, who was attempting to hide the half-eaten chocolate bar behind his back. I sighed, and turned back to my current source of information.

"I'm sorry Shippou, I was going to have him bring you a treat, but apparently he got hungry on the way over here," I said, glaring back at Inuyasha.

"That's all right; I prefer a more mature form of a snack anyways." Shippou said with a shrug.

"Okay, your loss kid," Inuyasha retorted, pulling out the remaining half of the candy and biting into it.

"Was that a…caramel bar?" The young boy inquired.

"Yeah, what's it to you?"

"You mean to tell me, that this nice lady here was going to give me that and you went and ate it? Oh that was very mature..." Shippou said sarcastically.

And, as I expected, it was a matter of seconds before Inuyasha had stormed over and awarded the boy a hit to the head.

"Inuyasha!" I fumed, storming over.

"He started it!"

"You're the one that ate my candy, you oaf!" Shippou yelled back.

"Oaf? Hey, kids shouldn't be using such language!" Inuyasha muttered, crossing his arms.

"Well pardon me for using words above your intellectual capacity!"

I quickly got between the two, and separated them. Then glaring at Inuyasha, I pointed over to the chair and gave him a firm order, "Inuyasha- sit!"

Grumbling, he went over and plopped down in the chair.

I sighed and looked over to Shippou, who was currently smiling smugly at defeating Inuyasha in this war of wits. Souten just blinked, not quite sure what to take of the situation. I shook my head; "_This is just what I need- my over-grown child of a partner getting into a fight with the boy that might have the clues to solve this._"

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Preview for Chapter 23-

Shippou holds the answers Kagome has been looking for about Naraku, but if the police step in too soon, the young boy might not be willing to say much more. Can they resolve the tension there and get the clues?


	23. Chapter 23

Author's Notes: This chapter was revised on January 24, 2006.

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**-June 8th-**

**Entry at 2:32PM**

I was just about to return my attention to the young boy when a light knock sounded on the door.

"Kagome?" A soft voice inquired, as the wooden door swung open.

I blinked, it was Bankotsu all right- but the face I saw was very different from the one I'd seen minutes before when he was with the two children.

"What's wrong? Did someone call you?" I quickly asked; my worries about Jakotsu building by the second merely due to his somber expression.

"No, I'm just..." He sighed, running a hand through his bangs, "Well, I started thinking," He hung his head, "It's been three days and with all the injuries, well... I..."

Biting my lip at seeing the worries I knew he'd been suppressing, I was about to intervene in an attempt to raise his spirits. Surprisingly, none other than Inuyasha had beaten me to it.

Before I could protest at his hasty actions, my partner had stormed over and lifted Bankotsu up by his collar. Then, he proceeded to give him a piece of his mind.

"You listen here- Kagome and I have been busting our asses on this case and we aren't giving up on finding him so damned easily. Keh- if I thought he was dead I wouldn't be wasting my time talking to some stupid little brat, so you'd better start helping us out more or we'll gladly write him off as another death under the Naraku case. I mean- if he was so weak a few cuts killed him then maybe it's better off he's dead!"

I stood with mouth agape, knowing how deep those words would cut into Bankotsu when he was already visibly distressed. Whether intentional or just Inuyasha's tactless anger being let loose- the words did have their effect.

"Shut the hell up," Bankotsu seethed under his breath.

"What's that?" Inuyasha taunted, digging the proverbial knife deeper.

Firmly grasping onto the hand that held him up, Bankotsu constricted his hand around Inuyasha's, causing my partner to let the gang leader go.

Knowing how their tempers were, I was prepared to jump in and stop a fist fight when Bankotsu's fist impacted with the wall behind him instead.

His back to the silent room, he spoke, "He's not dead. Jakotsu won't let a few little wounds kill him. He'll live. He has to live, you hear that?" Quickly snapping his head up, he glared at Inuyasha, "He's alive somewhere damnit and if you detectives don't help me find him soon I'm gonna kick your loud-mouthed ass like I did last week!"

Knowing all to well where this was heading given the infuriated looks in both men's eyes, I stepped in, "Calm down, both of you- there's children in the room and I don't want to have to call a doctor down here, you got that?" I said firmly, leaving no room for protest.

"Keh!" Was the only reply from my partner as he sulkily went over and unceremoniously plopped back down into the chair.

Turning to Bankotsu, I offered a slight smile in hopes it would calm him some, "Bankotsu, we'll do everything we can to find Jakotsu for you- but right now, we need to get more information about Naraku and the people connected with him. I'm hoping if we can find out the people behind him, we'll find Jakotsu. I don't want anyone else to die during this case; the list is already too long."

Shoulders slacking, he sighed and stuffed his hands into his pockets, "I just can't take this much more, even Chiyo and Yuuta thought it was strange that Jakotsu wasn't with me."

I blinked, the names not registering in my mind, "Chiyo and Yuuta?"

"The young boy and girl you might have seen out in the play area. Whenever Suikotsu would come up here for medication issues or to see Kikyou, Jakotsu and I would always stop and play with them. But today, well I couldn't bear to tell them Jakotsu might not..."

He was breaking, despite his attempts to stay strong and hide his worries; his shell was shattering much like it did last night after finding Jakotsu's shirt.

I cast a quick gaze over to Inuyasha, remembering his unusual worry that this situation had aroused. It was times like this, that I really wished I could spend every moment of every day with all the people I cared about, and I knew that Bankotsu was probably thinking something similar and wishing he'd done so more in the past.

Words weren't exactly forming properly in my mind at the moment, yet I felt the need to do something to try and comfort the distraught man before me. I looked up, and that's when I noticed Souten standing beside Bankotsu.

"Hey Mister."

"Souten, right?" He asked, trying to force a smile.

"I don't know much about all that's happening, but just be strong. That's what my brother always tells me. He says, "If you're strong then nothing else matters," or...something like that," She said with a shrug, "Plus whoever this is that's missing, well I'm sure he'd be very upset if he knew you were hurting because of him. Eh, well... okay, so I suck at this philo-whatever stuff, but cheer up. Things will get better... I hope." Souten continued, offering a nervous smile.

Stooping to her level, the young gang leader paused before pulling her into a hug.

"Thanks kid, I really needed that. Look, when we find Jakotsu, you should come and try battling us at video games too, okay?"

"Sure thing," Souten smirked, "But I'm warning you- just because I'm a girl doesn't mean I'll go easy on you."

I held in a laugh, finding it very amusing that she'd twisted the usual phrase to make her seem like the more intimidating one. Relief began to filter into my muddled brain, as a satisfied sigh escaped my lips. Leave it to a child to be able to reason with Bankotsu in a time like this the best.

Seeing him stand again, he looked over to Shippou then back to me, "So, what's the deal here?"

"This young man's father was captured by Naraku not that long ago, and you have some interesting information about the situation, correct Shippou?" I questioned, trying to slowly edge him into revealing more.

Bankotsu frowned, his brows furrowed in thought, "The last name doesn't happen to be Kisai, does it?"

I blinked, "I didn't know you'd heard about this, Bankotsu."

"Musou mentioned something to me about a Mr. Kisai when we worked out the deal about stealing from Hakushin. Said apparently the cops almost had Naraku, but well..."

"But that they shot my Father instead?" Shippou finished bitterly.

Once again, I noticed that Souten flinched whenever Shippou brought up the cops that had accidentally killed his Father, and then it hit me.

_Earlier she said she was trying to get her brother because Mr. Takeda wanted to speak with him. Then, is Souten's brother a police officer,_ I pondered to myself looking between the two children, _But then why doesn't Shippou know that Souten's related to a police officer?_

While I thought things over, Bankotsu had walked a bit more towards the bed and paused, "Kid, I know things are rough on you. Losing a parent is a bitch, trust me- I've been there... but please, if you know something that will help me find Jakotsu, let us know. I can't very well challenge you and your little girlfriend here to a video game battle if I'm without a partner, you know?"

Shippou cast a quick glance at Souten, who seemed to be a bit flustered by the term "girlfriend" having been used, "It's settled then, in my hopes that what information my Father left me might prevent another unneeded loss of life, I'll continue what I was telling Miss Kagome earlier."

Lifting the notepad back up once again, he continued from where he'd left off.

"So as I was saying, the police weren't much help, but I did have my hand-held PC system that was connected with one I knew my father still retained. You see, given the range and memory capacity of the Kitsune PDA and intercommunication system…"

"The what?" Inuyasha questioned

The young boy held up the small electronic device, "This," he answered, rolling his eyes, "Due to the way it's made I was able to contact my father. He informed me of his location and assured me that his captor hadn't injured him. Since I now had the location of where Naraku was holding him, I contacted the police once again- this time masquerading as an anonymous tip-off about Naraku's whereabouts."

Curious as to this prodigy child's methods, I decided to inquire about it, "But since you'd just called them, didn't they recognize the voice?"

He smiled, "Very perceptive, no wonder you're a great detective. I take it he's just around for show then?" Shippou smirked, obviously enjoying pulling Inuyasha's strings.

"Show? I'm not some stupid dog! I work just as hard as Kagome!" He snapped.

"Oh really?" The orange-haired boy pressed further as Souten stifled a laugh, "So let me guess- you beat up all the bad guys and do all the manual labor while she gathers information, right?"

Inuyasha frowned, knowing all to well that the child had him pegged, "Yeah…well- so what if I do?" He retorted, standing.

I moved to intervene, "Come on now, Inuyasha- let him talk. Just sit there and be patient unless you'd rather go help your brother with the police issue."

His frown deepened as he slumped back into the chair, "Keh!" being his only reply.

I looked over to Bankotsu, who was standing quietly by the wall. He appeared to be slightly amused that a mere child was so easily outwitting Inuyasha, yet I could see that his worries about Jakotsu were still being turned over and over in the depths of his mind. About to turn back to Shippou to once again set forth the question, a very light tap was heard at the door, followed by two quiet voices.

"Are you sure he went in here?"

"Yes, I'm sure. Just trust me for once."

Apparently I wasn't the only one that heard it, and Bankotsu walked over and slowly opened the door.

He smiled upon seeing whoever it was, and I began to walk to where I could see them as well.

"Hey there you two, what's up?" The braided man inquired.

I saw the young girl step forward, "We were just um wondering if…"

"You're up for a rematch already?" He asked, amused.

She nodded, and the boy spoke up, "Yeah but can you call Mr. Jakotsu to come? It's more fun when he's here too."

All facades of happiness dropped from Bankotsu's face as he looked to me for some semblance of help.

"You should probably tell them. They need to know," I said quietly.

Nodding in agreement, he stooped to their level and gently placed a hand on each of their shoulders, "Chiyo, Yuuta- I don't want to upset you, but about Jakotsu- he's missing at the moment," He stumbled on his words, trying his best to keep strong on behalf of the children, "These two detectives are going to help us find him, but we're…"

Seeing that he wasn't able to finish, I spoke on his behalf, "We're going to need some time to get him back to Bankotsu safe and sound."

Chiyo reached out and hugged Bankotsu, "Is Mr. Jakotsu going to be okay?"

Forcing a smile, he replied, "I hope so Chiyo, I really hope so."

"We'll take care of you until Mr. Jakotsu gets back then," Yuuta said bravely, offering a determined smirk, "He wouldn't want you to be all alone, Mr. Bankotsu."

The repressed emotions finally shone through as a hint of tear trailed down the young gang leader's face and he pulled the two children into an embrace, "Thank you. Both."

After a brief moment of silence, Bankotsu turned towards me, "Kagome, I'm gonna go and stay with these two. I'll be out in the play area if you need me."

"Okay Bankotsu, I'll let you know if we find out anything important."

"I'll do the same if Musou calls," He remarked, lifting Chiyo up easily onto his shoulder and holding onto Yuuta's hand, he made his way out the door.

I watched as they made their way out; then with a heavy sigh in hope that things would soon be back to normal, I turned my attention back to the orange-haired boy and the black-haired girl beside him, "Sorry about the distraction, we can get back to your story now Shippou, but I'm still curious as to how you got them to listen to your second call."

Shippou smirked, hit a few keys on the hand-held device and spoke, "Just like this," a higher pitched female variant of his voice reverberated.

Blinking in utter awe of the possibilities such a device could have, I finally brought myself to speak, "That's…amazing."

"It is rather useful," He replied nonchalantly.

"So they took your tip-off about the location?"

"Correct. Meanwhile, my father continued to relay encoded messages to me with the information he was overhearing," Shippou replied, producing another quick sketch to illustrate the issue.

"Information? You mean from conversations Naraku was having?" I inquired, watching Inuyasha from the corner of my eye in hopes that he'd stay patient just a bit more. I could already see that he was tapping his leg in annoyance.

Pulling back up his drawing of Musou, the young boy continued, "It seems that Naraku's little pawn wasn't as cruel as one would first think. I hold no animosity against him, being as he was doing his best with his undercover status to try and help my father."

Interested in seeing if the story Musou had given to the Kisai's was the same as the one he told me, I played innocent and asked, "Undercover? You mean he was working behind Naraku's back?"

Shippou blinked, "Well since that guy that was just in here seemed to know this 'Musou' character, I would have assumed you did as well."

_Damn, this kid was good…_ I nervously laughed, "Yes, we have had contact with Musou, but we don't know all the details about his connections with Naraku. I was hoping some of your information might fill us in."

Taking what I said for what it was, he finally answered, "Ah I see. Well, he told us he was an undercover representative of a rival group of Naraku's from another city. His absent-minded nature did make me question the validity of this though."

_Okay, so it's the same story Musou told me. I guess that's really all Musou is then._

"It looks like I'll have to get into contact with Musou then to see if these stories hold up," I replied, continuing to pretend our knowledge on Musou was limited, "Right now though, can you tell us what kind of information your father had sent to you?"

I knew the longer this took, the more irritable Inuyasha would be- plus, I wanted to get back to trying to find Jakotsu before Bankotsu lost it completely. Offering a smile to the young boy in hopes it would encourage him to trust me, I waited to see if Shippou was indeed going to hand over the information he'd been keeping from the police.

After giving a questioning glance to Souten, he slowly punched in a code and the small monitor of the device began to display fields of text, "Here. I trust you'll put this to good use, Miss Kagome."

Taking it into my hand, I began to skim over all the information it contained. Lists of underground transactions, robberies, illegal drug trafficking and more- it was a detective's jackpot. Then one section of the text, that seemed to have been from an old newspaper clipping, caught my eye.

"_The Sarudoushi estate, which was damaged severely in a fire, has been left to their two sons: Onigumo Sarudoushi and Naraku Sarudoushi._"

_Naraku has a brother? _My mind slowly processed all that this could mean and I knew right away, we'd found something big that was going to turn this case around.

-----------------------------------------

Preview for Chapter 24:

Naraku has a brother named Onigumo, but how does that fit into the case? And is it perhaps this unknown sibling that is the true reason behind Jakotsu's disappearance?


	24. Chapter 24

Author's Notes: This chapter was revised on January 24, 2006.

-------------------------------------------------------

**-June 8th-**

** Entry at 3:47PM**

Letting my mind once again read over the text, I voiced my question aloud.

"Onigumo?"

"Ah- yeah, the name associated with Naraku. Dad never did find out anything more about him except that they are brothers," Shippou replied.

_So- they are brothers._ I thought to myself, letting that fact run through my mind.

"Just a second, Shippou. I'll have my associate check up on him," I said, turning towards Inuyasha.

"Not him I hope," The young boy muttered.

"Keh! I can do this- I just have to…"

"Um…actually I was gonna call Sango," I butted in, reaching for my cell phone.

The room went silent, and then Souten started laughing.

"Shut up! She just wants Sango to do it because well- I can't use the cell phone so there!" He retorted, pointing to his strange white ears.

Shaking my head, I dialed the number and waited for an answer.

"Hello?"

I paused recognizing Miroku's voice, having forgotten for a moment that he was over at Sango's house as well.

"Hello Miroku- where's Sango, I need to ask her something."

"Ah Kagome- let me go get her," He replied.

After the shuffling subsided I heard him call out, "Sango! Phone!"

Listening closely, I picked up her footsteps as she walked in. I also could hear part of their conversation.

"Who is it?"

"Kagome."

"Oh, did they find out something?"

"Well, I don't know- she wanted to speak to you," Miroku intoned, noting his irritation that I didn't tell him anything.

"Don't look at me like that- it's my house and I'm her best friend, it's not like she's going to go divulging everything to you."

"So you're thinking she might have- upped the relationship with Inuyasha?"

"Well- why else would she not want to tell you?"

I closed my eyes and exhaled deeply. I would not butt in when I wasn't even supposed to be listening, then again they probably knew I'd listen in…

"If it's anything juicy you have to let me know," Miroku practically pleaded.

"Whatever, Miroku. The kids are in the kitchen icing the cookies. You think you can handle that?"

"You were making cookies?" He questioned.

"Rin insisted, plus- I had that old recipe of Mother's."

"I'm certain they will be delicious if they were made with your lovely hands, Sango."

A conversation paused, then as expected the sound of Sango's hand impacting on Miroku's face was heard.

Finally the phone was lifted back up.

"Kagome?"

"Ah, Sango can you do a favor for me?"

"Sure, what is it?"

"I'm needing information on an Onigumo Sarudoushi."

"Sarudoushi?" The pitch of her voice hitched a tad in shock.

"It's supposedly Naraku's brother. His name is tied in with some of the transactions we've uncovered that he made in the past. So it has to connect."

"This could be what we're looking for."

"Exactly."

"I'll start searching right away," She paused then spoke away from the receiver, "Miroku- what in the world?"

"Sorry Sango, it seems I've gotten more frosting on me than on the cookies. And um…it's all over the kitchen."

She sighed, "I'll call you back once I find something, Kagome."

I smirked, not able to resist getting even for their conversation about Inuyasha and me earlier, "Just don't get too involved cleaning that frosting off Miroku."

"Kagome!" I could hear the blush in her voice, and had to hold back a laugh.

"Sorry, sorry. But you really got to give him a hand at least for trying."

"I suppose. Well I'd better go before my kitchen is trashed. Bye Kagome."

"Bye, Sango."

I smiled to myself, if my hunch was correct this Onigumo person was the answer to everything.

Tucking the cell phone back into my pocket, I turned my attention back to the young boy that had helped us out so much.

"She's going to look right now, Shippou. I think this might be the lead we've been looking for."

"Well I'm glad I was able to put the information in capable hands. Those blundering police officers wouldn't know what to do with such valuable information," He replied, wincing a bit as he moved his bandaged leg the wrong way.

"Shippou, don't…" Souten had begun to protest his comment when a loud crash came from the hallway.

Standing quickly, I went and stuck my head out the door to see what was going on.

"Let go of me," Bankotsu said, prying the other braided-man's grasp off him.

"I'm a police officer- you're a gang member."

"I'm not doing anything wrong!"

"Yeah, leave Mr. Bankotsu alone!" Chiyo spoke up.

Yuuta walked over and kicked the young officer in the leg, "Let him go!"

"Why are you here anyways? One of your members in for some bullet wounds?" The police officer said crossing his arms and still on defense.

"I'm waiting for the detectives to finish talking to one of the kids down here."

"Detectives?" He questioned, "I thought all the leads on the Hakushin case had been closed."

"Not that," Bankotsu muttered, "One of my men has gone missing due to Naraku. They're trying to find him."

The officer's face softened as he looked to the side, "Missing persons case, no wonder I wasn't informed. I'm not allowed on those anymore since that bastard Naraku went and ruined my career."

Pausing the gang leader took one step towards him, his eyes were downcast, but his voice was firm, "Naraku's fucked over tons of people- you're not the first. After hiring us to work for him one week, he ends up kidnapping and…god knows what else he's done to Jakotsu since then. What else could be worse than having that bastard take the one person you care most about from you?"

A moment of silence passed before the officer quietly replied, "I accidentally shot a young boy's Father because of Naraku. He's now an orphan and hates all police officers because of me. What makes it even worse- is what it's done to my sister."

"Your sister? Oh," He offered a forced smile as he recalled the young girl from before, "You must mean Souten. She was looking for you awhile back….Hiten, right?"

"Yeah that's right. She's my sister."

"What happened to her?" Bankotsu said slowly.

Hiten hung his head, "The boy whose dad I shot- she's got a crush on him."

My eyes widened as my suspicions about the situation became clear, and I quickly looked back into the room- hoping and praying that they children didn't overhear it… but, they had.

Shippou looked completely heartbroken as he slowly shifted his gaze to Souten, "Your…your brother? He was the one who killed my Father?"

I bit my lip, wanting badly to console the young boy but knowing it was Souten's place to speak, not mine.

"Shippou, I can explain!" She protested under his saddened glare.

"You lied to me! Why didn't you just tell me?"

"Because then you'd hate me. I didn't want you to be all alone. And I knew if you found out it was my brother, you wouldn't want to talk to me anymore."

"They killed my Father!" Shippou reiterated, his youthful face holding back the tears that were demanding to be let free.

"And my record isn't the only thing suffering because of that," Hiten remarked from the doorway having overheard the situation in the room.

"Hiten…" The young girl said, slowly making her way towards her brother.

"You ever hear of an 'accident' kid? Or did you forget what that means?"

Shippou looked away and Hiten continued.

"Do you honestly think I would purposely ruin my entire career and upset my little sister just for the hell of it?"

The room fell silent as his words echoed slightly off the walls. I could tell at this rate, nothing was going to be resolved and so, I took it upon myself to step in.

"Shippou, I know things have been hard on you. Losing someone you love and care about is never easy; but you shouldn't hold this against them. Hiten's job and Souten's friendship with you were both affected by this event as well. You're all the victims here. I think just about anyone who's gotten tangled in Naraku's web is a victim, even Naraku himself."

"Miss Kagome," The young boy said, gazing up at me and trying to muster some inner strength on his own.

"Please, Shippou. Your Father wouldn't want to see you at odds like this, would he?"

Raising his eyes towards Souten, then lowering them to the computer he held in his hands, the red-headed boy muttered a reply, "You have presented valid points, detective. Allowing my bitterness due to grief to affect my opinions of others is petty and immature," He paused, then looked to the brother and sister, "Souten, Hiten- I apologize for my childish actions."

Souten smiled, rushing to his side and after a moment's hesitation she embraced him, "I'm sorry I didn't tell you, Shippou."

Pulling back, he placed his hands on her shoulders, "Don't worry, Souten. We should both just out these vindictive and vengeful feelings behind us and attempt to move on."

She nodded with a smile, then turned to look to Hiten, waiting for his say in the matter.

"Hmph. Don't worry about it kid, as long as you don't hurt Souten I could care less what you do."

I smiled on seeing the issue resolved, then right as I was about to speak up again, the ringing of my cell phone caught my attention.

"Hello?"

"Kagome- we've got something big with this Onigumo thing," Sango's excited voice said over the line.

"What? What did you find?"

"When the Sarudoushi estate burned down, he was severely injured to the point he had to stay in the hospital for treatment for seven months. The hospital he was registered at is the very one you're in at this moment."

"He was here? When?" I could see Inuyasha moving closer so he could listen in better.

"About two years ago, and you know what that means?"

Quickly running all the facts through my head, I figured it out, "Two years, plus seven months- right about when Naraku's crime movements began."

"Exactly. After the release from the hospital he was supposedly moved into a residency in Okugi City. The address is about two blocks away from the one under the name of Naraku, his daughter and his roommate's apartment."

"So what happened? Do we know anything past that?"

"Perhaps I can be of assistance again," The distinct voice of our friendly police chief said as he stood in the doorway. The other detectives were there along with Kanna and the other officer that Kanna had mentioned aside from Hiten.

"Mr. Takeda? Just a moment Sango," I covered the phone and waited to see what information he'd found.

"I just received a call from the mental institution where Naraku had been taken. They've ID-ed his condition as a deep state hypnosis, and based on the facts you left, they believe the trigger for it was the sound of a dog whistle."

"The dog whistle, then that means…."

"No one except those with extremely sensitive hearing could notice when he was being controlled," Inuyasha said, stating the conclusion I'd just made.

"Well, Mr. Takeda and I think we just found out your puppet master, thanks to some help from Shippou here."

The man stepped forward, "And who might that be?"

I paused, and spoke back into the phone, "Sango, can you print off all the information you've gathered and come back up here soon? Okay, we should still be here. I'll try and get the medical records from Kaede. Thanks again. Bye."

Looking back over to the group by the door, I continued, "Naraku's brother Onigumo. We found his name tied in with some transactions made, and I think perhaps he's the person behind this mess."

About to say more in explanation, I stopped on seeing Bankotsu trying to push through the mass of people at the doorway.

"Kagome! Kagome we've got something!" He said rushing forward.

"What? What…"

He held his cell phone to my ear and played the message.

"_Hey, this is Musou. I've got Jakotsu's whereabouts narrowed down to three rooms here in this wing, and once whoever just came in leaves I'll check it out. Head down here as soon as you can."_

Handing the phone back to him, I smiled, "Go ahead and go if you want. We've got some things to finish up here. Just call me if anything happens."

"All right," Bankotsu replied making his way back out the door, his mood obviously brightened.

I turned to Inuyasha and placed a hand on his shoulder, "Come on, we've got work to do so we can get this case closed."

"Keh," He muttered crossing his arms, then very softly under his breath he muttered, "Okay, Kagome."

---------------------------------

Preview for Chapter 25:

Our detectives have their lead, Musou's very close to locating Jakotsu, and things are generally looking up. But evil doesn't give up easily, as our detectives are sure to find out.


	25. Chapter 25

Author's Notes: This chapter was revised on January 24, 2006.

-------------------------------------------------------

**-June 8th-**

** Entry at 5:59PM**

It's quite amazing how quickly clues can be uncovered when you have two detective agencies, a computer full of text-data recovered by a hostage of Naraku's and the police all on your side. By the time Sango's father had gotten home and she and Miroku had returned to the hospital, we'd not only recovered Onigumo's hospital records, but we'd been able to trace him and his latest activities.

After saying our goodbyes to Shippou, and thanking him for his assistance, we returned to our offices to begin the task of sorting our clues into something we could use.

Looking down at some of the paperwork about the warehouse, I thought back on the call I'd gotten about an hour earlier from Bankotsu.

----------------------------

The phone was ringing, so I'd paused to pick it up and I was instantly questioned by the gang leader's voice.

"Kagome?"

"Ah, Bankotsu? What's going on?"

"Well, we're having to wait. The police are all over the damned place, and if we got caught poking around I'm sure they'd arrest us. I brought Suikotsu and Kikyou with me in case of an emergency though."

I nodded, "Having the nurse with you in case Jakotsu needs immediate treatment, correct?"

"Yah," He said with a sigh, "I hope that's not the case, but I figure it's better to play it safe."

"So where are you now?"

"Musou met up with us and we went to get something to eat."

Knowing it was a touchy subject, but still needing to follow up on the lead, I questioned, "Any word on Renkotsu's location?"

The line went quiet before a bitter "No," was shot back at me.

"Okay, we'll look out for him as well. Call me if you find out anything, all right?"

"Right," He replied before hanging up.

-------------------------------------

My mind was mussing over the conversation again, wondering if I should be suspicious of Bankotsu's despondency or if that was merely due to the fact I'd brought up Renkotsu.

That's when I'd remembered something.

_The reason he was in the hospital with his arm was due to a message Renkotsu had left on his phone. Suikotsu said it was too harsh to repeat, so what was it?_

"Kagome? Kagome!" Inuyasha's voice snapped me from my thoughts and back to the situation at hand.

I was in the process of going through the paperwork when my mind had gone back to the situation with Bankotsu. Looking to the headline of the old paper in my hand, I had a sickening feeling I knew why.

"_Body found in the harbor outside of the Shouki district. Another murder being attributed to Naraku."_

"Kagome?"

Finally pulling myself from my thoughts, I glanced over to my partner, "Sorry Inuyasha. I was just thinking about something."

"What?" Kagura questioned.

"Bankotsu still doesn't know where Renkotsu is at. The last we heard of him was a message that was left on Bankotsu's answering machine. As to what it said, I'm not sure, but I do know that it was the cause of him punching the mirror."

"Do you think there was a clue in that, Kagome?" Miroku asked.

"Possibly, yes. Or something that Bankotsu doesn't want us to interfere in."

"A duel then?" Sango proposed as an answer.

"I'm not certain. But it is a possibility that Renkotsu has challenged or threatened Bankotsu with something."

"An interrogation of him later is in order. For now, the situation at hand needs to be attended to," Sesshoumaru intervened.

Frowning, yet knowing that he was indeed correct, I pushed that thought to the back of my mind and continued sorting through the papers.

Coming across one of them, I handed it over to Kagura.

"Here's the information on Onigumo's latest contact- Rasetsu. He might be trying to use him to move in now that we've taken Naraku out of the picture."

"You think Onigumo's gonna make a move to get into that warehouse before the police uncover anything else?"

I nodded, "Right now, even the stolen goods they've found are still there to act as evidence. Onigumo only has tonight if he wants to recover anything there, and given the troubles he's gone through up until now, I'd say he's going to break in tonight."

"So we need to deal with him and his subordinate," Sesshoumaru spoke up from where he leaned quietly against the wall.

I looked around to the group of detectives, "We know where Onigumo himself is at. Given the injuries he received, he's permanently bed-ridden so he has to use others to do his work."

"We already have a search warrant for his home," Sango spoke up.

"That was fast," I replied, taking it from her.

"Mr. Takeda insisted he get it done for me right away," She replied rolling her eyes.

Shaking my head, I held back a laugh, "At least his infatuation with you came in handy this time, Sango."

"I suppose," The long-haired woman said crossing her arms.

"So what the hell are we going to do? Sitting around like this isn't helping!" Inuyasha protested, impatiently tapping his foot.

"Move before he does," Sesshoumaru stated simply.

All eyes turned to him.

"What is that supposed to mean? Huh?" Inuyasha snapped, "It's not like we can steal the goods from the police."

"But we can hinder those that wish to do so," His brother replied.

"Sesshoumaru?" Kagura questioned, apparently seeing something in the elder man's features that I didn't.

"There are five of us."

"Um, there's six," I corrected.

"I was counting Inuyasha with you since he's not worth anything otherwise," Came the blunt reply.

"Hey!"

"As I was stating. All of us," He leveled a glare at Inuyasha, "Shall split up and attend to each possible situation separately," Pausing to assure he had full attention, Sesshoumaru continued, "Kagura and I will handle Onigumo."

"Wait a second! Why do you get to take down the main guy and hog all the glory?" Inuyasha protested, standing.

"Your agency already has ties to one of the issues at the warehouse."

"Jakotsu," I said quietly, and Inuyasha sat down with a 'hmph.'

"Two of you can attend to finishing that part of your case. The others can ensure Rasetsu doesn't try anything."

"Sesshoumaru, are you sure that we'll be all right?" Kagura asked skeptically.

"I wouldn't lay plans that I felt were faulty," He stated in reply.

"But with your arm…"

"I can fire a gun perfectly fine with my right hand, Kagura," Sesshoumaru said, quickly glancing at his empty left sleeve.

She gave a fleeting smile, like she expected such an answer. I meanwhile turned to my white-haired partner.

"Inuyasha, start gathering up things. I'll call up Bankotsu and let him know we're on our way down there."

"Keh," Was his only response as he stood and went to pack up our guns and some other supplies.

"Miroku, Sango- you think you can hold off Rasetsu if he shows and we aren't there?"

Sango nodded firmly, "I'm sure we can handle them if someone isn't distracted."

"What?" Miroku feigned innocence, holding his hands up in front of him.

"Make sure to watch for intruders more than watching me, pervert," She retorted, swatting away his hand headed for her backside.

Shaking my head at their usual antics, I dialed the number for Bankotsu's cell phone and waited for an answer.

"Hello?"

"Bankotsu, we're headed down that way now. Where can we meet up with you?"

There was a pause, then a quiet, "Meet up with us?"

"This is Kagome, Inuyasha and I are headed down to the warehouse. We have search warrants and all that paperwork, so the police can let us in."

"Yeah, _you_ can get in," He said sharply, and I noted the bitter tone still there.

"…What's wrong, Bankotsu?"

"The sun will set soon. I can't get into the warehouse as long as police officers are anywhere around because I'm a gang member and they'll figure I'm there to steal something. Time is running out for Jakotsu!"

Noting the panic in his voice and thinking back on earlier, I calmly stated, "This has to do with what Renkotsu's message said to you the other night, correct?"

Silence, until finally I heard a few voices. Apparently Bankotsu had sat the phone down.

"Just fuck it all!" I heard him curse, followed by the sound of his fist impacting on a nearby wall.

"What's wrong, Bankotsu?" Suikotsu's voice was picked up.

"She knows okay? Now the damned detectives are going to want to meddle in this as well."

"I'm sure you can trust Miss Kagome not to…"

"I don't trust anyone but Jakotsu, okay?"

I bit my lip as the conversation between the two continued; silently wishing I could do something to help quell Bankotsu's frustration and anger.

"Miss Kagome?" Suikotsu spoke, having picked up the waylaid cell phone.

"Ah Suikotsu, I'm sorry to have upset him. I just want to help."

"I know. He's just very worried. We need to get in there before something happens."

"What if I can get the cops away long enough for you four to get in?" I offered.

"You can do that, Miss Kagome?"

"We think that someone is going to come tonight and try and steal the stolen goods there. I was already having Miroku and Sango look out, but if the police are still there, I'm sure I can convince them to do that while we get inside."

He muffled the speaker partially as he spoke off to Bankotsu, "She said she'll get us in. Don't worry; they'll let us four in while they keep the police away. It'll all be okay."

"Fine, but don't let the police or the detectives follow us. Jakotsu's in danger otherwise," I heard the barely audible reply.

_Renkotsu's up to something. He wants Bankotsu to go in their alone, or at least- only with a few others. _

"Fine, it's a deal then," Bankotsu said sharply as he took the phone from Suikotsu. "But on one condition."

"Yes?"

"You can't follow us down there."

I paused, biting back the urge to offer help or protest this plan, "Understood Bankotsu. But if I hear gunshots or anything suspicious, it's my duty to investigate, okay?"

"Okay."

"We'll meet you off to one of the side streets nearby, is that all right?"

His voice lightening a bit, he replied, "Yah. Sorry about all this, but I just can't risk Jakotsu's life."

_I'd do the same for Inuyasha, wouldn't I?_ I shook my head of the thought, and stammered out a reply, "Just be careful. And don't hesitate to call us for help if it gets serious."

"All right, Kagome."

"We'll be down there soon. See ya then."

"Bye."

Hanging up the phone, I sighed and ran a hand through my hair.

_What is going on? It's definitely Renkotsu's doing, but what is he doing? _

"Kagome?" I heard Inuyasha's voice question from beside me, "Here."

I blinked as I took my gun from his and holstered it to my side.

"You ready?"

I nodded, "Yeah."

"We shall keep contact via cell phone the entire time. Report any movements. Relay any information," Sesshoumaru stated as he walked to the door.

Looking about to all of the others, I took a deep breath and snagged up my coat.

_The mystery will be solved tonight. _

I thought to myself as I followed Inuyasha out the door.

_Just please, let everyone live through this._  
-----------------------------------------------------

Preview for Chapter 26:

Everything will slowly be set into motion. Plans will come into play. Plans will fail. This is the time that all our detectives will prove their worth. Prove that they want to live through this case.


	26. Chapter 26

Author's Notes: This chapter was revised on January 24, 2006.

-------------------------------------------------------

**-June 8th-**

** Entry at 7:41PM**

With our supplies gathered, information and warrants secured, and our hopes that we could manage to do this, the six of us headed down the staircase to our respective cars.

I was just about to get into the car when I noticed that Inuyasha had walked over to where Sesshoumaru stood.

"If you start getting your ass kicked, just admit defeat and call us for help, got that?" He spat, trying to hide the concern I knew he had for his elder brother given the recent injury.

"Same to you," Sesshoumaru retorted.

The two just paused, leveling each other with equal glares before Inuyasha turned with a 'keh' and walked back towards me.

"Miroku, don't be such a letch and get distracted," He shot to our fellow detectives as he passed them by.

"And don't be acting rashly without thinking if you want to keep Kagome safe," Miroku said, face serious.

Golden eyes narrowing, Inuyasha stormed over to where the short-haired man stood, "I'll do what I have to get this job the hell over with!"

Crossing his arms, he glanced in my direction.

"What?" He snapped, apparently uncertain of my current expression.

I let my unsure smile widen a bit more, "It's all right, Inuyasha. Everyone's going to be just fine. Don't worry so much."

"Keh! Who the hell said I was worried?"

The others showed their various signs of disbelief.

"Come on, Inuyasha. We have a job to do."

"Fine," He grumbled making his way over to the car and getting in.

Once inside, I gently placed my hand on his arm.

"Inuyasha…"

Turning towards me sharply, his harsh expression softened on seeing my somber one.

"Kagome?"

"We've done some pretty dangerous things in the past. You know, handled some really risky and deadly situations all right but- but..." I paused, biting my lip and trying to form the right words.

"Kagome? What is it?" His voice was a soft whisper now as he leaned down, trying to peer under my bangs.

"This is probably the biggest stunt we will ever pull. We're dealing with who knows how many people who work for Onigumo, Renkotsu's up to something that might not only affect Bankotsu and Jakotsu but us as well and the whole thing just isn't setting right with me. I just feel like something horrible is going to happen."

He took a deep breath, his eyes sliding closed as if he was trying to quell his own nerves. That's when I felt his hand on top of where my hand rested, slowly and hesitantly entwining his fingers with mine.

"I won't let anything horrible happen. Okay?" He muttered, averting his gaze.

Looking up, I could see the intensity in his eyes as they stared off into the distance; the determination to make sure all of us made it through this alive easily read within their depths.

Nodding with renewed enthusiasm, I squeezed his hand back, "Okay Inuyasha. I'll be right here with you like always."

Head snapping quickly back towards me, there was an edge of surprise dancing on his features as the last part of my statement took hold.

"Kagome…"

I smiled lightly, "Neither of us are in this alone. Don't forget that."

A smile slowly appearing in return, he nodded.

"Not alone, I'll remember that," He murmured quietly, causing my smile to widen.

After a moment of just sitting like that, my fingers absently stroking along the side of his hand, I finally took a deep breath and spoke up.

"Inuyasha, it's time now. We're going in."

Seemingly reluctantly to remove his grasp on my hand, he finally did so and gripped the wheel.

"All right, call the others and tell them we're moving out."

Picking up my cell phone and glancing back over my shoulder at the two cars parked behind ours, I surmised that calling Sango first might be a good idea. Especially since from what I could see of it, she was not very happy with Miroku at the moment.

Dialing up her number, I waited as I saw her stopping in her argument with Miroku to pick it up.

"Hello?"

"It's just me, checking in. Everything all right?"

"Yeah, Miroku's just being his usual perverted self," She sighed.

"But if things get serious, I don't want to die without children, Sango!" I heard the very pervert she spoke of protest in the background.

"Miroku…" Her voice was dangerous, and I figured unless we wanted to be short one of our six detectives, it was best to intervene.

"Well, we're ready to head out here. I'm just going to check things over with Kagura and Sesshoumaru first, then we'll head out," I said, acting as if I couldn't overhear the background conversation.

"All right, I'll get him in gear and ready to go."

"Okay Sango. Be careful you two. We'll keep in touch."

"All right, you too. Bye."

Noticing Inuyasha impatiently tapping his hand on the wheel, I shook my head and dialed Kagura's number.

I heard her pick up, but before I could talk- she did, "Just a moment, I'm in the middle of something."

Curiosity getting the best of me, I turned in my seat trying to see what I could of Sesshoumaru's car from where we were parked.

The sound of her phone being sat down made the connection go fuzzy for a moment, but then I could vaguely hear the goings on of the other vehicle.

"Sesshoumaru, you've got to promise me you won't over do it with your arm like that."

"I told you, it's not of your concern."

"Look- I've heard all your damned excuses and I'm fucking sick of them!" Her voice echoed over the line, "I am not going to sit in a hospital again waiting to see if you die or not!"

"Sentimentality makes one weak, Kagura," He replied, voice at its usual tone.

She scoffed at the remark and I could barely see her leaning over to get in his face.

"You listen to me. I didn't have to give up my other job to work with you. I don't have to put up with your stupid irritating excuses. And most of all, I don't have to sit back and let your damned ego blind you from the situation at hand. You are missing an arm now- and if we hadn't been so lucky, you or I could be missing more than that or dead. Yes Sesshoumaru, dead. Your stupid ego doesn't do much for you then, now does it?"

Almost tempted to hang up and call back, and feeling quite awkward at what I was overhearing, I paused when I heard him speak.

"Neither of us is going to die. I'll make sure of that."

"Sesshoumaru…" She began to retort, only to have him raise his hand to silence her.

"With Naraku out of the picture, you've lost that apartment he was renting on your behalf."

"What does that have to do with anything?" She snapped.

"Once this is finished, we'll pick up Rin and go home."

"But I don't have a…" Kagura paused, her voice trailing off as what he said sunk in, "Are you saying…"

"Inuyasha can move your things if you're so worried about me overexerting myself."

She slumped back into her seat as it sank in completely.

"Well…shit…" Kagura finally brought herself to mutter.

"You should probably attend to the matter on the phone. And hope that my brother isn't on the other end protesting my suggestion," He remarked.

Grabbing it up after a second, she spoke, "Sorry about that."

"Oh, Kagura good- everything all right over there?" I said, trying to play it off as if I didn't hear the gist of the conversation.

"Yah, we ready to head out yet?"

"I believe so. I think everyone's as ready as they're going to be now. Sorry for the delay, I had to talk something over with Inuyasha."

"It seems all of us had a few things to discuss…" Kagura remarked quietly.

"You'll be heading out towards Okugi City, right?"

"Yeah, Onigumo's location is out there. Luckily the suburb isn't that far from here."

"You think the cell phones will hold? If at all possible, I'd like to keep in constant touch to make sure that everything's going smoothly," I questioned, looking about for my cell phone's charger so at least the batteries would hold.

"I've never had a problem before, and Sesshoumaru's is some fancy brand name one so at least one of them is bound to work."

"All right then, we'd best go. The sun's starting to set, and Bankotsu acted like that was going to be an issue, so we've got to get him inside."

"Okay. Good luck."

"Same to you. Be careful out there."

"We will. Just make sure you do the same. Bye," Kagura replied, hanging up.

Taking a deep breath to soothe my nerves, I looked back over to Inuyasha.

"Let's go now. We have to meet Bankotsu at the alleyway two blocks over from the warehouse, so head there."

"Keh. I know I know," He turned the key, and the two other cars behind us followed suit.

Looking back, as we went down the street, I saw Sesshoumaru's car turn right at the corner and head towards Okugi City.

"I hope they'll be all right."

"Hmph. I still don't see why Sesshoumaru gets to go after the main guy," Inuyasha muttered, turning the corner in the opposite direction.

"Why? Did you want to beat up some bed-ridden weakling instead?" I retorted, smirk on my face.

"Keh! I just mean he's going to get all the credit!"

"I'm certain if we all successfully make it through this- we'll all get equal credit. Even Sesshoumaru would want it that way."

Confusion etched on his face, he blinked, "What? Sesshoumaru wouldn't give a damn!"

"But wouldn't your Father want both of you to get equal credit? Given his respect for him, I'm sure Sesshoumaru would only want to do what your Father would have wanted," I reasoned. Plus, I knew in regards to capturing Naraku, Sesshoumaru had no outright signs of trying to hog the glory.

Eyes narrowing, he frowned, "I still don't see why we have to play clean up with Onigumo's lackeys though."

I withheld a smile, knowing that that was his little way of admitting I was right.

As we entered into the Shichinin district, my mind went back to the issue with Bankotsu.

"Inuyasha, we need to keep alert. I think Renkotsu's plot might involve using us somehow."

"Why do you say that?"

"Because if he was just after Bankotsu, he wouldn't have acted the way he did back when I was caught in that burning room."

"Back then? But he didn't know you'd be with them then," Inuyasha reasoned.

"No he didn't, but when he was mocking us through the door before you showed up, he said one of things he would have been glad to see was not only their dead bodies but the one for 'that bitch of a detective' charred from the fires," I said, recalling the harsh words clearly.

"That bastard…" I saw him take one hand off the wheel and clench it, and began to hope he never got the chance to take Renkotsu on personally.

"So he's out to kill us as well then," He finally muttered.

"We know too much. If he can kill us and destroy our evidence, he's free. Simple as that."

"It's part of the job. If you're out to get rid of someone, they want to get rid of you first."

"I know, so we've got to be extra careful. He'd go for us before trying to go after Miroku, Sango, Kagura or Sesshoumaru. Especially me," I sighed, "Oh Mama was right, this job is too stressful at times."

"Your Mom has no idea," He said shaking his head, "So what's the deal with Bankotsu anyways? Sounds like something weird happened when you spoke to him," Inuyasha asked as we neared the location.

"We've got to get them into the warehouse and can't follow. Jakotsu's life is on the line, and despite the fact it has trap written all over it, that's all we can do."

"Keh! I'll just have to knock some sense into that braided little punk," He retorted, pulling the car over into an alleyway.

I noticed the four figures approaching us as Miroku's car drove on past us towards the warehouse.

"Inuyasha, we'll play along for now. But if something happens, we will step in."

Gathering up our supplies from the backseat, I got out of the car and saw the four people walk up.

_It all starts now…_ I thought to myself on seeing the lightening off in the distance over the harbor. _This night will determine everything._

--------------------------------------

Preview for Chapter 27:

After arriving at the warehouse, our detectives work quickly to try and get Bankotsu into the wing where Musou claims Jakotsu is at. But things aren't as simple as they seem, and getting this case closed won't be easy at all.


	27. Chapter 27

Author's Notes: This chapter was revised on January 24, 2006.

-------------------------------------------------------

**-June 8th-**

** Entry at 8:12PM**

"Are we ready for this?" My voice spoke up, not sounding quite as confident as I would have liked.

The four figures stood shadowed in the alleyway, but I easily made out the familiar faces.

"Hey there, Kinpa!" Musou called out, once again in the habit of not getting my name correct.

I just sighed, figuring it was a lost cause.

"Keh!" Inuyasha grumbled behind me.

The sun was beginning its descent on the horizon; and remembering Bankotsu's earlier mention of the deadline of sunset, I figured I'd cut the chit-chat and get straight to work.

"I sent Miroku and Sango on ahead. They're going to call me once the police are out of the way. Then we can head in."

The group nodded their silent acknowledgements of what I'd said, and I bit my lip, trying to think of how to possibly ease the tension.

The young nurse, Kikyou, was standing close to Suikotsu's side, and he had his hand protectively on her shoulder. As a member of the Kotsu gang, I'm certain he was a little more used to this than she was, yet- his worry over the situation seemed to outweigh her nervousness.

Then again, I shifted my eyes to Bankotsu; with his friend in that condition I could understand the worry.

Bankotsu's whole body seemed tense, his eyes cold and trying to hide his fears behind the façade of anger. Like me, he had already figured out this was a trap- yet his pride wouldn't let him ask for help or risk the chance that Jakotsu could be hurt if someone else did step in. I saw him wince, and restrain from punching the nearby brick wall.

"_He knows, Jakotsu might be…_" I paused my thoughts, hanging my head.

Hearing a noise behind me, I turned and noticed that Inuyasha was tapping his foot impatiently.

I opened my mouth, just about to tell him to 'Be patient' when another voice cut in.

"You know you can't follow us, right?" Bankotsu said shakily.

Turning to regard him, I sighed lightly.

"As much as I hate to agree, yes…I know. I'm just a detective, and from what clues I've picked up- it sounds like you've either got to go in their alone or Jakotsu's life is even more at risk than it already is. You hired us to help find him, but…" I paused, offering an optimistic smile, "But it looks like it's up to you to save him. Just please, be careful."

"Hmph," He shrugged, "I'm the leader of a well known gang around here. I think I can handle it."

It was clear he was trying to maintain his manly demeanor throughout this situation, and if I deducted properly, it was also a means of reassuring himself that he was strong enough to handle what might await him in that room.

"Okay, but if I hear gunshots, it's my job to investigate. I can't keep my word if that happens, all right?" I explained. Wanting to make sure he knew I wasn't just going to let him go in there without someone watching his back.

"Give it three shots."

"What? Bankotsu don't be…" Suikotsu began, only to halt as the braided-man held up a hand.

"I might have to use some dummy shots to scare someone into working with me. I don't want you to barge in after those and screw things up," He stated plainly, and I began to see why the Kotsu gang had been so successful in all their heists. As child-like and emotional as he might get, Bankotsu had the mindset of a leader. And in a high-risk situation like this, he was way ahead of me in thinking possible problems through.

"On the fourth shot, Inuyasha and I will come then."

He nodded, almost noncommittally, but I brushed it aside. We all had a lot of things on our minds, and I'm certain he was hoping that it wouldn't come to four gunshots…at least not in the case where he'd be needing help, I noted with a frown.

Throughout this case, I suppose I'd been a bit lenient of the fact we were working hand in hand with some of the well known gang members of the Kotsu gang. But, as I'd told Inuyasha in the beginning- we were detectives and it was our jobs to take cases, no matter who from. I just never guessed that we'd end up in so deep.

Before my thoughts could continue wandering, my cell phone rang, and I quickly answered.

"Hello?"

"Kagome. We've got the police moving out with us, move in now," Sango's voice came over the line in a rush.

"Gotcha. Keep in touch."

"You too."

With that, our brief conversation ended and it was back to business. Pocking the cell phone, I looked to our misfit group and sighed.

"This is it. Let's go."

It seemed like seconds after I'd said those words, and we were all running towards the warehouse. Making it around the backside, we avoided the eyes and ears of the remaining police force with ease thanks to Sango and Miroku tipping them off about possible break ins. But the only 'break-in' that was going to happen on their watch was our last ditch effort to retrieve a missing member of the Kotsu gang.

"Kalika, I'll take things from here," Musou said as he punched in a code that he'd written on his arm.

The doorway opened and we entered into the dark, cold world of the warehouse. Slowly, we made our way down some hallways, the previous 'employee' of Naraku turning on a few lights as we went.

Then I realized what could pose a possible problem, "Um Musou, please tell me that you remembered to make a note of which of those corridors you thought Jakotsu was in."

The brown haired man grinned sheepishly, before pausing and beginning to look at the scribbles on his arms and legs.

"Ah, here it is!" He said, pointing to something on his upper left arm, "Bankotsu and I can take it from here. You might consider moving out towards the entrance in case the police get nosy. Suikotsu, you and the lady can stay here at this junction in the hallway. I'll come get you if we need your doctoring expertise."

I looked at the fork in the hallways, and then back towards the door we came from. Musou had left on just a few lights, but they acted like beacons to guide us back towards the door with ease.

My brows creased in thought, "_That seemed a little too well thought out for Musou. It's as if he wants us out of here as soon as possible. Does he, know something that we don't?_" I questioned, thinking back over all my misgivings on the man and his strange nature.

Not wanting him, whether he was trustworthy or not, to find our actions suspicious, I played along.

"Okay, Inuyasha. We can head back to the doorway and keep an eye out for the police. This is the only door that enters to this part of the warehouse, right?"

Musou shrugged, "Unless you count a sky-light in two rooms over and a back fire-exit. No, that's it."

Once again, I studied him. His actions and his knowledge seeming a little more than just a gang-member from a rival gang spying on Naraku. He knew too much, and in the game of detective, knowing too much meant one of two things- you were guilty or you were about to get killed by the guilty party.

The problem was, I still couldn't place what was up with Musou. I just knew he wasn't from here locally, he seemed to have a bad case of absent-mindedness about ninety percent of the time, and yet… he knew every entrance and exit in this warehouse complex. Things just weren't adding up.

As much as I would have loved to have sat down and fully analyzed the mystery of Musou at that moment, both the situation at hand and the sound of my ringing cell phone in that stark quiet warehouse snapped me to attention.

After fumbling for a second due to being caught a bit off guard, I managed to hit the right button and the familiar female voice spoke over the line.

"Well, we're in Okugi City. How goes things there?" Kagura asked casually, as if this was a daily jaunt in life.

"We got Bankotsu in. They're about to go look for Jakotsu. Miroku and Sango went to keep the police outside but…"

"But?"

I frowned on realizing that while I talked, I had subconsciously began to walk towards the door we'd come in from. I was playing the cards just like Musou wanted me to, and like usual, Inuyasha despite his grumbling, followed.

"Musou's acting a bit strange. He seems to know too much. Can you shed any light on that, Kagura?" I whispered it harshly. Hoping the concrete walls and floor didn't carry my message back to the one I spoke of.

"Hmm well…"

Kagura's opinion on the matter was interrupted, very loudly might I add, as I heard their car's tires squeal and Sesshoumaru's calm voice muttering in the background.

"It looks like he sent someone out to great us," The elder brother remarked as the sound of a gunshot ricocheting off their car's metal frame echoed over the receiver.

"Kagura?" I questioned, wanting to know what was going on.

"We're okay. It seems that Onigumo sent some lackeys out to meet us. Some well armed lackeys. "

I swallowed hard, and tensed at the sudden hand on my shoulder.

"What?" I snapped, turning to see the somewhat strange expression of Inuyasha behind me.

"What's going on?" He questioned, trying to hide his concern for his elder brother as best as he could.

"I'm not sure," was the only reply I could offer, "Kagura, are you two okay?" I questioned over the silent line.

"Yeah, the bastards just got one of our tires," I heard a car door slam, "We're moving in on foot now."

"Is that really such a good idea if they're armed and after you?"

She laughed lightly, "It's not like we really have much of a choice. We'd be sitting ducks if we tried to change the tire out to a spare and even if we succeeded in that they'd just shoot out another tire. So yah…" Her voice grew soft. "All we can do now is just suck it up and deal with it."

"Phone," I heard Sesshoumaru's quiet demand in the background and the sounds of the receiver being handed over.

"I wish to speak to my half-brother," He addressed me bluntly.

"Um…okay," I paused in the hallway, and turned to Inuyasha, "Sesshoumaru wants to speak to you."

"Keh! This had better be good."

Snatching the cell phone from my hand, he glared at the wall as he spoke.

"What do you want?" A pause, and his eyebrows furrowed in thought at whatever his brother had said, "Don't tell me shit like that just…" He paused, and I could see him balling his fist at his side. "Do you want us to come out there? Okay. Fine. Keh, just don't get in trouble so bad we have to bail you out."

Without a word more, he ended the call and handed the phone back.

"They'll call back once they're to a safer location," Inuyasha said distantly.

I frowned, "What did Sesshoumaru want to talk to you about?"

He diverted his eyes, leaning against the doorframe and looking out towards the street.

"Nothing."

Hesitating, I finally found myself reaching out, wrapping my arms around him from behind.

"He'll be okay. We're all going to be okay."

A half-hearted 'Keh' was all I got in reply.

After a moment's silence, he spoke up.

"Kagome…"

"Hmm?"

I felt the gentle brush of his hand coming to lay over where mine was on his chest.

"If something happened to me you'd…keh…" He cut himself off, his cheeks beginning to show signs of a light blush.

Sighing lightly, I answered the question I knew he was trying to ask.

"If something happened, well, I don't know what I'd do. It's hard to think of how things would be without you around."

It pacified him a little to know that, his muscles slowly relaxing.

"Sesshoumaru. He said if things get too bad, we've got to go get Kagura out of there."

I smiled, "He doesn't want anyone else to die if it can be avoided."

"Just like my Father…" Inuyasha trailed off, and I gently squeezed his hand in reassurance.

"But Sesshoumaru won't die that easily. He might not be as loud as you, but he's just as stubborn."

"Keh!" My white-haired partner protested, and I had to withhold a laugh.

Things fell back to silence, the only noises being the light rumbling of thunder in the distance and the sounds of the police off on the other end of the warehouse. I found my eyes glancing up at the skyline, able to pick out the orange and red hues of sunset peaking through the threatening thunder clouds overhead.

"Kagome…" His soft voice caught my attention, but he continued before I could reply.

"After this whole stupid thing is over I'd…I'd like it if you…."

Before another word could come out of his mouth, the two of us snapped to attention at the sounds of gunshots coming from inside the warehouse.

Eyes wide, we looked to each other before beginning to dash back towards where we'd parted with the others.

Another shot rang out, the bullet ricocheting off one of the concrete walls before hitting something solid. Something, I prayed wasn't a person.

We each drew our guns and kept running, a third gunshot making its sound heard clearly down the corridors.

"_That was three. Oh god, please- please let everyone be all right._"

-------------------------------------------------------------

Preview for Chapter 28-

After hearing three gunshots Kagome and Inuyasha rush to where they left the others, but with the involvement of Onigumo's men, the mystery behind Musou's strange behavior and the nagging question in Kagome's mind about what Inuyasha was going to say to her, are all going to play their part in this part of the mystery.


	28. Chapter 28

Author's Notes: This chapter was revised on January 24, 2006.

-------------------------------------------------------

**-June 8th-**

** Entry at 8:31 **

I could hear my hasty footsteps echoing off the concrete floor. It created a strange rhythm that seemed to mimic my erratic heartbeat as thousands of questions raced through my mind.

"_Please don't let there be a fourth shot. But what if one of those three wasn't Bankotsu's? They were fired right in a row, as if someone was shooting someone else. And it hit something or it would have continued to ricochet. And Inuyasha…he was trying to say something about…us…_"

Pausing when my mind touched on my partner, I turned to see him lagging behind me. Knowing he wasn't the type to be hesitant to rush into a situation, I knew that it must be something in regards to what he was trying to tell me.

"Inuyasha?"

He looked up then, his absent gaze catching mine as he walked up beside me.

"What's wrong, Kagome?"

His eyes held that innocence that they sometimes hide, like he was truly worried that something was wrong with me.

"I should be asking that of you. You're lagging behind."

"Keh!" He muttered, making sure to make a large production of crossing his arms, "I don't see the point of helping someone who is so adamant against us helping."

"Inuyasha…" My head tilted slightly and I could feel a soft smile tugging at the corner of my lips, "Sometimes people have trouble admitting they need help, especially when someone they love is in danger. Now come on- we need to go."

Blinking, his golden eyes widened a bit before he hastily looked away, a light blush creeping onto his face, "Keh, I know."

I shook my head, Inuyasha's personality seeming more and more endearing rather than irritating like it used to be. I blushed then myself, berating my thoughts for even going into that direction.

"_He's my partner…that's all. And it's not like…_"

Pausing, I recalled what he had begun to tell me earlier. Slowly, a knowing smile appeared on my face.

Reaching down, I snagged up his hand.

"Come on now, we have to keep moving forward," I said, pulling him behind me as I increased my pace.

And sure enough, his expression of surprise faded into a reassuring smile as he picked up his speed to keep up with me.

-----------------------------------

We rounded the corridors where the lights remained, and another possibility came to mind.

"_At first I thought the only reason Musou left these lights was to lead us out, but they can also lead us back if needed. Perhaps- well, maybe he really is just trying to help us. But still, there is something strange about him_."

As we neared the junction in the hallways that we'd last seen the other four at, I could hear unfamiliar voices and the sounds of a scuffle in a room off to the side. Subconsciously, I held Inuyasha's hand tighter as I pulled my gun out.

"Suikotsu!" I made out the voice of the young female nurse first, her voice calm as usual, yet with a tone of underlying panic.

"Stay back, Miss Kikyou. This could get dangerous," He replied, his tone a mixture of his calm-side and his other-side.

And I knew at that, it wasn't just the situation he was saying could be 'dangerous.'

Walking over slowly to the doorway into the storage area, I began to count the number of the figures I knew weren't those that came with us. Estimating that it was but a small faction, perhaps five men at the most was slightly reassuring, but- as I looked back to where Suikotsu stood I realized that soon we'd have yet another problem on our hands. Clutching at his head as if he was trying to force his other side back, the brown-haired man was fighting an inner battle already.

"Kisama…"

I heard the word growled out under his breath and knew we were too late.

"Suikotsu this isn't necessary," Kikyou pleaded with him as she firmly held onto his shoulder.

"Inuyasha, should we?" I questioned, turning towards my partner.

"What are you asking me for?" He snapped back.

Shifting my eyes back into the room, I squinted in an attempt to get a better grip on the situation at hand.

The room was only half-lit, making it very hard for me to decipher what was truly going on. Slowly, I edged into the doorway a bit, and that- shed an entirely new light on the matter.

Using the final beams of sunset coming from the skylight overhead, I pieced together the full picture easily.

"_I see now, they're after the stolen goods in those crates. But, of course, when they saw Suikotsu and Kikyou waiting out in this hallway, they must have shot towards them. And_…" I paused, my eyes glancing to where Kikyou's hands were on Suikotsu's shoulder, "_And it looks like Suikotsu got hit at least once_…"

"Kuso. How dare you…"

With a frown, I bit my lip. Knowing the rest of his words were slowly becoming more and more Japanese. Between the anger and the bloodlust from seeing his own injury, it was only a matter of seconds before his other side came out completely.

"Inuyasha, we have to do something. If Kikyou stays there, she might get hurt in the crossfire."

"Like what?" He grumbled back, obviously irritated yet- like me- without a plan.

"I don't know, but we can't just stand here."

"Kagome…"

I looked up to him intently; waiting for what it was he had to say.

"I don't think those guys have noticed us yet. If we stay here, then we can shoot them if they try anything."

Estimating the distance between us and the intruders, and figuring in the way the light fell- I quickly came up with an idea.

"Inuyasha- let me climb on your back."

"What?"

"If they look towards this door- all they can see is our silhouettes. If I'm on your back- it'll appear as a tall man."

"Are you saying I'm short!"

"Shh- no, I'm just saying someone that's six-foot plus is more intimidating."

"Keh- whatever."

Quietly, I moved behind him as he assisted me up onto his back. Once I got my balance, I leveled my gun on the men.

"How long are we going to do this?" Inuyasha whined.

"As long as we need to. Now stay still so if I have to shoot it won't mess up my aim."

"What aim?" He muttered.

"I heard that," I shot back.

It fell silent for a moment before I picked up the distinct sound of a gun being cocked. Before I could react, they fired once and Suikotsu moved to block Kikyou.

"You bastards, how dare you drag Miss Kikyou into this!"

Reaching into a side-pocket of his cargo pants, he said one thing- only this time, it was all in Japanese.

"He's in his other side now…" I murmured to myself.

"Good. His other side can fight," Inuyasha muttered back, "Because it's not like I can do anything with you on my back."

"Inuyasha…" I warned.

"What?"

"Never mind… it's just…"

I cut my sentence short as I heard one of Onigumo's henchmen cry out in pain.

Snapping my head in that direction, I began to see how Suikotsu of the Kotsu gang got his reputation. Between each of his fingers, he held three daggers, almost like a set of deadly claws. And he wielded each- with an amazing accuracy.

On seeing a man fallen- the other intruders began to move in. Each drawing their weapons and surrounding Suikotsu and Kikyou.

In a fluent motion, Suikotsu reached his left-hand down to pull three more daggers from his other pocket. With daggers now in each hand- he rushed forward, slashing out towards anyone that got too close. But his movement wasn't completely erratic, since I could tell he was consciously avoiding their gunshots.

But, as I noted with a frown, this side of Suikotsu wouldn't have as many inhibitions over killing someone. And if this case added a murder charge to the Kotsu gang's reputation- the other charges and Jakotsu's situation would only become worse.

"Inuyasha, we have to do something before he accidentally kills someone."

"Well _I_ still can't do anything because _someone_ is on my back," He muttered.

Sighing to myself, I replied, "Will you stop whining and work with me?"

"Keh. I am working with you. I've been holding you on my back for the past thirty minutes for that very reason."

"It has not been thirty minutes," I shot back, my irritation slowly building.

"With this weight, it feels like it."

At that, I could feel my eyebrow twitch and strongly had to resist the urge to pull out the dog-whistle and blow it directly into his ear.

"Listen. If you ever want me to bring ramen to the office again, you'll shut up and work with me."

I could tell his expression had shown momentary shock at my threat, but then he quickly covered it.

"Keh. Fine. So what are we supposed to do?"

I looked back at the fight going on in the other room, and suddenly I had an idea.

"_It's like back when we caught Naraku, I might be able to shoot down one of those light fixtures and use the distraction for us to move in. Then, all we have to do is contact Miroku and Sango and get the police in here as soon as possible._"

"Inuyasha- I just need you to hold me steady. I've got an idea."

I felt his hands bracing my legs and him making sure he had a good enough grip to compensate for any jostling the gun's reverb caused.

Leveling my aim on the light fixtures I could make out, I waited for the henchmen to position themselves under them, yet for when Suikotsu was at a safe distance.

It took a few moments, but finally- I saw my chance and fired.

The bullet hit its mark, the light falling down onto three of the men that Suikotsu hadn't already injured and Suikotsu himself had moved back just at the right moment.

"Got it," I said to myself, as I placed a hand on Inuyasha's shoulder, "Okay, let's move in, Inuyasha."

He nodded and helped me down as the two of us moved in.

Guns leveled at the fallen men, I kept my eyes open for any possible remaining ones hiding amongst the crates of the storage room.

Reaching into my pocket, I quickly fished out my cell phone and dialed up our two other partners.

"Hello?" I heard Sango's voice over the line.

"Sango, we're over on the other end of the complex. We've got a couple of Onigumo's lackeys cornered so we're gonna need some of the police force you distracted to come over here and pick them up for questioning."

"What about Bankotsu and that situation?" She questioned, knowing that was our reasoning behind having them move the police away from the south side of the warehouse.

With a frown, I glanced in the direction Musou and Bankotsu had left in, "I'm not sure what's going on there, but the police won't see them. And we'll get Suikotsu out of the area before they get here just in case."

"All right, we'll get them down there right away. I just have to convince this guy on night shift to move again. It won't be that hard," I heard her cover up the mouthpiece for a moment, "Miroku, go tell that Akitoki guy that's in charge that we've got an id on some of Onigumo's henchmen down in the south sector of the warehouse. Inuyasha and Kagome are gonna hold them there until we move in."

"Okay, I'll tell him," I heard Miroku's muffled reply in the background.

"That all you need, Kagome?"

"That's all for now. Go in the door on the southwest side. We left it cracked open and there are lights leading down the hallway to where we're at."

"Gotcha, see ya in a bit."

"See ya," I replied, ending the phone call and turning back to the people before us.

"Inuyasha, what are you…."

I paused on noticing my partner tying off a rope around the men we'd captured.

"Keh. It's the best I can do. Their weapons are over there," He motioned with his head towards the pile of guns and knives.

Blinking, I found myself smiling back at him, "Thanks Inuyasha. That'll be a big help."

He shifted his gaze, trying to hide his embarrassment at the compliment, "Well…it's not like I could just let them keep it."

Turning back towards Suikotsu and Kikyou, I was pleased to see that it too was being dealt with.

"Just calm down and hold still," The black-haired nurse instructed as she ripped part of Suikotsu's sleeve off to act as a bandage for the bullet wound he'd sustained.

"I'm sorry Miss Kikyou, I didn't mean to get upset. But when I thought they were going to shoot you, I just…well, I just panicked."

"Don't worry about it. You didn't kill anyone, so there is no reason to be upset. It'll all be just fine," She reassured him, gently caressing his cheek to help soothe his raw nerves.

Sighing in relief that things here ended up better than it first seemed to be, I found myself looking off in the direction that Musou and Bankotsu had gone in.

"_Unless there was a gunshot at the same time there was a gunshot here, there's been no loud sounds of any kind coming from that direction. I sure hope everything's going all right…_"

But before I could think anymore on that matter, my cell phone rang and I pulled it out to answer it.

"Hello?"

"Have you and my brother been having any rat troubles there?" The calm, unamused tone of Sesshoumaru asked abruptly.

"Rat…troubles?" I questioned.

"According to the information we received from one of Onigumo's men here, they'd sent some that way."

"Oh! Actually, yes. We just got six of them cornered and the police are moving in."

I heard a gunshot, and the phone fell silent for a moment.

"Kagura…"

And that was the last thing Sesshoumaru said before the line went dead.

--------------------------------------------------------------------

Preview for Chapter 29:

The sun is setting quicker on the horizon. The phone connection to Sesshoumaru and Kagura has gone dead. And if something isn't done soon, the death count will only start to rise.


	29. Chapter 29

Author's Notes: This chapter was revised on January 24, 2006.

-------------------------------------------------------

**-June 8th-**

** Entry at 8:53pm **

My fingers felt numb as I shakily attempted to redial the number. The line nothing but a fuzzy static until a mechanical operator's voice informed me what I already had a sinking feeling was true. The line- was dead.

Taking a deep breath and ignoring the probing questions of those around me- I hastily tried the other number- hoping and praying that perhaps someone might answer.

The hollow rings echoed over the phone, each one, each moment filling my veins with dread.

Sesshoumaru's phone was dead and Kagura's was going unanswered.

After letting it ring for what seemed like forever, I gave in and hung up. Turning towards the other three with me, I was just about to suggest having us send someone to Okugi city as backup when I heard the distinct sound of a gunshot coming from the direction Bankotsu and Musou had gone in.

We all froze, our eyes intensely focused on the walls between us and them.

Another shot. Then two more.

I could hear the sound dancing down the concrete hallways as someone unloaded a full round into whatever- or whoever their target might be.

"_That was more than four shots. Oh god…_"

"Shit!" I heard Inuyasha curse under his breath before feeling his hand grab me by the wrist, "Kagome- we've got to go."

I felt my head slowly turn in his direction, my feet feeling like they were implanted in the ground.

"Inuyasha…"

"Kagome- snap out of it! We've got to…"

"The situation is overwhelming her. Try to stay calm if you want her to calm down," I vaguely made out Kikyou's voice in the background.

"Kagome…"

My eyes seemed to regain their focus as the whole predicament rushed into my mind. And it was then that I realized- Inuyasha had his arms wrapped around me and my head was against his chest.

"I won't let anyone get hurt. But I can't do anything without you…beside me…"

His voice was a hoarse whisper into my hair, his tough façade gone in seconds on seeing me in my state of shock.

"Inuyasha," Reaching up, I clasped the front of his shirt. Bringing my eyes to meet his, I smiled, "I'm sorry. I'm coming now."

Relief washed over his features on seeing me back to myself, and taking his hand in mine- I turned to the others.

"We need to go, please- be careful. The police will be here soon to attend to those men, but Suikotsu- you can't let yourself be seen."

"Okay," He nodded, "Miss Kikyou and I will wait nearby in case Bankotsu needs help."

"All right. If you see Miroku or Sango, please tell them to have reinforcements sent to Okugi city for Sesshoumaru and Kagura."

"We shall," The brown-haired man reassured me, his hand lightly resting over where the bullet had hit him.

Turning to give one more reassuring smile in their direction, I continued to run down the hallways.

It was now up to me and Inuyasha to step in. And as my feet continued to race forward, I realized that I was still tightly grasping his hand in mine.

"_I can't do anything without you… beside me…_"

His words seemed to reverberate in my mind. It made me feel- confident that we'd pull through. All of us would- somehow. We each had our support.

Suikotsu was hurt, but Kikyou was a nurse and his girlfriend. If anyone would make sure he'd be okay, it'd be her. And, despite my worries over Kagura, I knew that if Sesshoumaru had anything to say about it- she'd be just fine. Bankotsu would do all he could for Jakotsu- he even risked teaming up with detectives that a week before would have thrown him in jail had they the right evidence.

But it was how devoted to not only Jakotsu, but to all his friends Bankotsu was that made me worry the most. I hadn't really known him long, or gotten the chance to talk about much outside of the case, but I had a feeling that he'd die if it meant saving Jakotsu's life. And that aside, even if he said otherwise, I wasn't sure he'd be able to draw a gun on Renkotsu.

If there was one thing Bankotsu was deeply loyal to, it was his friends. And even if they had betrayed him, I'm not sure if he could bring himself to kill them.

And now, my last minute analysis of him was slowly fitting in pieces that spelled disaster.

The more I pondered it. The more I thought over all I knew. I could only think up one conceivable situation in which Bankotsu would not hesitate to kill one of his own men.

Much to my dismay, that was the situation we were in.

If it came down to Jakotsu's life or someone else's, he would be willing to kill. And since I didn't want the gang leader to be locked away for murder, I knew we had to stop him before he did anything too irrational.

"Kagome?" Inuyasha's voice seemed tentative, as if he wasn't sure that disturbing me while I was so deep in thought was the best of ideas.

"Hmm?"

"You're kinda quiet."

I tightened my hold on his hand, "Just thinking things over. I'm kind of worried."

"Keh! Kind of?"

"Okay okay, I'm very worried. I'm just hoping we aren't too late."

We turned the corner and continued to follow the trail of lights towards where Musou and Bankotsu had headed.

"For…Jakotsu?"

I bit my lip, "Or for anyone else. Bankotsu might…"

"Might kill if it meant saving Jakotsu. I know."

Our silence was only prolonged as we came to a fork in hallways, both directions having lights lit as if it was the path.

"Which way?" He asked after a moment.

I paused, closing my eyes and straining my ears for any possible noises from either direction. Muttering under my breath, I sighed.

"You have the better ears here. Try listening to see if you can hear anything."

"Keh!"

He protested, but I knew without opening my eyes yet that he was indeed trying just as I was to find any signals of life.

"Looking for someone?" A third voice piped in, and I snapped my eyes open.

Turning around to face them, I made out the silhouette walking towards us from further down the left hall.

"That's…"

"I thought I asked you to watch out for those police officers or, at least I think I asked you to do that."

The brown-haired man reached up and scratched his head in confusion, my eyes making out the faint scribbling on his arms.

"Musou," My eyes narrowed, looking for anything that might be taken as suspicious. Aside from any previous suspicions, that is.

"Okay Mister- what the hell's up? You're acting really weird!"

Leave it to my partner to outright confront him on the matter. I ran a hand down my face, yet casually reached for my gun while I was at it. The last thing I needed was to have a possible suspect pull a gun on us when we confront him.

His eyes widened, giving him almost a blank and innocent appearance, "Oh me? Well, I suppose you are better detectives than you let on. But first…"

"But first my ass- spill it, we know you're up to something fishy!"

I edged up behind Inuyasha, preparing to cover him if Musou countered his verbal assault with bullets.

Looking down at one of the many things written on his arms, he sighed, "No really, there is something much more important than this right now. Bankotsu needs you guys."

Part of my instincts said that it was a trap, or that he'd gotten rid of Bankotsu by some means. But, the other part of me saw the sincerity and worry in his expression, and I couldn't help but think back to how he helped Kagura watch out for Jakotsu for the time he was under their guard.

"What happened?"

Taking a step forward, I placed a hand on Inuyasha's shoulder to calm him for the moment. Yes, Musou was acting strange. Yes, this could be a trap. But if it was true, then it meant that Bankotsu was in trouble. And if that was the case, then there wasn't any time to doubt Musou.

"Just please- come with me."

His statements seemed so serious, his head hung forward as he began to retreat down the corridor.

And perhaps it was the fact that Musou was being so forthright and serious that made me all the more suspicious as to who he really was.

"_Well, I suppose you are better detectives than you let on_."

What was that supposed to mean? Was he so confident in his charade that he didn't think we'd see anything strange about him? Or was there some other angle that I wasn't thinking of just yet? Who was the real Musou- the serious, yet obviously hiding something person that walked in front of us now, or is it the absent minded man who helped Jakotsu when he was hurt?

Which one was I supposed to believe in?

But my inner debate over that was interrupted by the ringing of my cell phone. Halting, and watching Musou closely from the corner of my eye, I answered.

"Hello?"

"They're sending more that way. Be prepared."

My eyes widened. There was no one else that could be.

"Sesshoumaru?"

My breath seemed to stop for the moment, my unanswered question about Kagura's safety hanging in the air.

"One of our old rivals got in a hit."

My eyes widened. I knew that Sesshoumaru and Kagura had dealt with some of Naraku's underlings before, but now it seemed that one had upstaged them.

"Only a graze. She's returning the favor now."

Taking that he meant the loud gunfire nearby was from Kagura and not their rival, I let out the breath I'd been holding.

"What happened?"

I could see Inuyasha edging closer in hopes he could listen in, but I was concentrating on watching Musou. He kept looking between us then back down the hallway. It made me wonder how serious Bankotsu's predicament was. Or, was the trap he'd set timed?

"She'll explain," Sesshoumaru stated simply before the rustle of the phone switching users distorted anything else he might have said.

"Kagome?"

"Kagura- thank goodness. I heard a gunshot before the phone cut out."

She laughed lightly and I knew that all had to at least be somewhat okay.

"Two of our old _friends_ decided to try and get the upper hand on us by shooting at me directly. Sesshoumaru dropped the phone when it happened."

Thinking back to it, I did find that noise as the line cut off strange.

"So you're okay?"

"Just grazed my shoulder. I'll live. Though you should have seen Sesshoumaru attempting to bandage it with his one hand. It was rather amusing."

Hearing her talk in such high spirits despite it all made me smile.

"I bet. So they're sending more this way?"

"That's what Kageroumaru said."

"Kageroumaru?" I questioned, not recalling that name as someone involved with Naraku.

"Him and his brother were a case Sesshoumaru and I had a few months back. They got away, but not after we knocked them down to size a bit. Apparently they hooked up with Onigumo though, so when they saw our familiar faces they came to welcome us to the neighborhood."

"And they sent more our way?"

"Juuroumaru might be a bit slow, but Kageroumaru isn't. He knew the second he saw us on the cell phone that we were corresponding with someone at the warehouse. So yah, expect more coming your way. They're out for those goods."

"Gotcha. We've got to go. Something's up here, I'll call back once we know more."

"Okay."

Hanging up, I looked up expectantly to Musou. My eyes ready to read any strange expressions or behaviors that might shed more light on what he was up to.

"We can go now. We have to hurry right?"

He offered a slight smile, "It would probably be the best if we did."

I'm not certain how many more hallways we went down, and I kept looking back to Inuyasha to see if he was noticing anything out of the ordinary with his acute hearing. We communicated back and forth with simple nods and gestures until we were in front of a door to one of the storage rooms.

Musou reached for the doorknob, then opened it up a crack.

"In here, walk in slowly. He might still be…"

Whatever it was he intended to warn us about was cut of by the sharp clatter of something metal skidding across the floor followed by a loud curse.

"Just fuck!" I made out Bankotsu's voice as it hitched and withheld a sob.

Coming into the room slowly, I could barely make out anything save the shadowed figure of the dark-haired gang leader pacing back and forth. His gun was clutched tightly in one hand and whatever it was he'd just kicked laid a few feet in front of him.

As I drew closer, I could make out the remnants of tears on his face and my stomach lurched at the possibilities of what had happened.

"Bankotsu?" Musou spoke first, walking forward.

"I thought I said to leave me the hell alone! Shit!"

"Your detectives are here. They probably want to be filled in."

He cast a sideways glance at us before reaching into his shirt pocket. I could hear the sound of the new bullets being loaded into place.

"Filled in, eh?" Bankotsu asked, his tone sardonic.

Then looking to us with a blank stare, he pointed the gun right at my heart.

"So what do you want to know, Mr. and Mrs. Detective?"

-----------------------------------------------

Preview for Chapter 30:

Bankotsu's been hiding some things from the detectives…and now Kagome's wondering if it was such a good idea to help out the leader of a ruthless gang after all.


	30. Chapter 30

Author's Notes: Well finally I've gotten everything prior to this revised (chapters 1-29) and a new chapter completed. If you have the time, feel free to re-read the earlier chapters since they have been revised.

-------------------------------------------------------

**-June 8th-**

** Entry at 9:17pm **

My heart was hammering my chest as I tried to figure out what was happening. I could hear Inuyasha start to move, but I quickly called out.

"Don't," I rasped, "Don't move. Just…let him talk."

Despite how calm I was trying to be, inside I was so tense. Usually I'd be so hyped up on adrenaline that I wouldn't notice how dangerous a situation I was in was. But this time, it was like a chilling silence. Bankotsu had a gun leveled at my heart and I had a sickening feeling that this was the true trap all along.

"Bankotsu, can you please tell us what's going on?" I managed to ask, trying to sound at ease.

"Heh. We've gotten ourselves into one sick person's little game, that's all," He shook his head and I could see tears brimming in his eyes, "I've been given an ultimatum by Renkotsu. I either kill you now or Jakotsu's dead."

"But how would he know if you…"

"He's watching us. Right now," Bankotsu retorted, swallowing hard, "So I'm going to say what I can before your time's up."

I nodded, slowly formulating a plan in my mind. I had a feeling; Bankotsu would probably fire at Inuyasha first. And I knew, that whether he realized it or not, that would give me the upper hand to save everyone.

"You knew about the message I got the other night, right?" Bankotsu asked, I nodded in reply. "Well that ass told me that I had until sunset tonight to save Jakotsu. It seemed easy. I'd come in with Musou- we'd get Jakotsu and we'd get out. But we weren't that lucky."

"What happened?" I asked, pretending to shift my weight from foot to foot while I actually edged closer to Inuyasha.

"He said to come alone, that I couldn't bring you or Inuyasha if I valued anyone's life. Now I know what the bastard meant by that."

Once again eyeing the gun pointed at me, I kept talking to Bankotsu to buy myself some time.

"So he threatened you?"

"Threatened? Hah! He's had this trap laid all along!" Bankotsu yelled, casting a vicious glance towards the remains of the black plastic and metal he'd been cursing at and kicking when we'd entered.

"What trap, Bankotsu?" I knew already, but I needed every second I could get.

"Musou came in first, and he said he couldn't find Jakotsu anywhere. But that there was a machine in there with a note saying it was for me."

I looked to Musou and I noticed him glancing about the room with his eyes narrowed. Part of me wondered if he was looking for where Renkotsu could be hiding- but part of me was suspicious of the action. The way he kept glancing towards one section of crates then to Bankotsu made me wonder.

_Is it possible that Musou is working with Renkotsu on this and just acting nice and helpful as a cover? Right now, it's like he's trying to make sure Bankotsu doesn't notice that area of crates. Could that be where Jakotsu is?_

Not paying any heed to Musou, Bankotsu continued to talk. I could tell he was on the verge of snapping, the stress hitting his breaking point.

"I listened to the message and it's like I told you- he's watching us right now. If I don't kill you both, he kills Jakotsu. It's a sick trade!"

"Because we know too much?" I asked, once again shifting a bit more towards Inuyasha.

"Because you're too close to the truth, he said. All I know is… I've been through so much these last days. All I want to do is have Jakotsu back with me. I- I don't know what else to do but what he says."

"Why the hell are you listening to those stupid assholes?" Inuyasha spoke up, "Damnit! Don't kill us just because they're telling you to!"

For a moment, I could see the sadness clearly in Bankotsu's eyes. But within seconds, it was replaced by nothing but pure hatred. Whoever planned this had gotten what they wanted. Bankotsu was now so distraught, he would no longer think twice about killing to get Jakotsu back safely.

"It's for Jakotsu! I swore I'd not let him die and if I have to…" He started to choke up, "If I have to kill someone to get Jakotsu back to me safely then so be it!"

"But how do you even know he's safe?" Inuyasha posed the question, and I silently thanked him for helping me stall.

"He was on the message. He was pleading for me to help him!" Bankotsu yelled, emotions hitting their peak, "I can't leave him now. He's been hurt so much already..."

"Bankotsu just calm down, there has to be another way to solve this…" I pleaded, once again moving a bit closer to Inuyasha.

"I have no choice! He's watching us right now, laughing at us!"

I could see him shakily starting to shift his aim towards Inuyasha. Suddenly, the whole situation became all the more dire to me.

When the gun was aimed at me, I could try and act calm; but now- I just wanted to do anything and everything to stop him from shooting that gun.

"Please, Bankotsu! We won't tell anyone, we won't press charges, nothing at all. Just don't fire that gun!"

"I'm sorry," He said darkly and he pulled the trigger.

As the bullet shot across the room, I felt my heart stop in my chest.

"_Inuyasha…_"

And before I even knew what I was doing, I threw myself between the oncoming bullet and Inuyasha. The bullet hit and everything turned black.

---------------------------------------------------------

Everything felt so cold; the floor below me, the air around me- everything. Oddly enough, it was at that moment that everything about the case really became clear. I wasn't sure how the criminal had done it yet, but I knew who was behind this.

It had all been a charade to mask the true intentions of the mastermind. He'd frame who he needed to, kill those in his way and get Bankotsu to get rid of us. It was so twisted, using all these innocent people to act out his plans, but so far- everything had gone according to his plan.

True, he never could have expected Naraku to get caught. But as I thought over the full picture, that was a minor detail in the scheme of things.

But with all this knowledge, I just had to figure out how and the case was solved.

Willing myself to move, I finally registered everything that had just happened. The room we'd come to. The crate Musou was looking at. Bankotsu being told to kill us. The gun being aimed at me first and then at Inuyasha.

The shot was fired and I… I had jumped between it and Inuyasha. Trying to pull myself out of the cold darkness, I registered Inuyasha's desperate voice calling to me.

"Kagome? Kagome, don't die. Kagome!"

And suddenly, I felt so warm. Wrapped in his arms, no doubt, with my face rested against his chest.

"Kagome. Please…Kagome, wake up…."

I tried to will myself to open my eyes, but the searing pain stopped me a moment. I could feel Inuyasha shaking, maybe even…trembling. And it was only when I finally managed to open my eyes that I realized it had been because he was crying.

"Inu…yasha…"

Golden eyes snapped open, and I could read every emotion there so easy. Never in my life had I seen him this scared. Then again, I'd never even seen him cry before. He must have thought that I was dead… tears brimming in his eyes and looking so terrified like that.

"Kagome…"

I weakly nodded, "I'll be okay, it's just my shoulder."

He just hugged me tighter, his quiet voice reverberating in my ear, "…Why did you…for me…"

I reached up and brushed the hair from his face. Despite the pain and everything else, I had to smile.

"I wanted you to live."

He shook his head, then angrily yelled at me. "You idiot! If you had… if you had died, then how could I?"

My eyes widened at that. Thinking back to his early words, I knew now what he was going to say.

"After this is over- I'll still be here with you, Inuyasha. Always," I said, echoing some of his own words.

He blinked, a light blush creeping on his face. "Then don't do anything stupid like this!"

I nodded, "I won't."

Taking things in, I managed to surmise why he'd panicked so badly. The pain in my upper left shoulder said it all. I'm sure the blood stain would have made anyone think I was fatally wounded. But unless the pain I felt was misleading, I knew I'd be fine.

"Move aside, let me help…" Musou's voice cut in. I could feel his hands near the wound and my eyes widened. Suddenly, I knew exactly who Musou was. Inuyasha noticed my change of expression and shoved him away.

"Don't touch her! You're in on this crap too!"

Turning my head slightly to one side, I noticed that Bankotsu was standing frozen in shock where he'd been before. Edging my right hand down, I gripped onto my gun and waited to see if Musou would act.

Sure enough, he did just as I predicted.

"What the hell are you thinking, Bankotsu?" He admonished him, rushing over to pry the gun away from the other man. And before any of us could react, he'd managed to pin Bankotsu on the ground and get handcuffs on him.

"Kagome, what are you…"

I smiled at my partner to assure him that I wasn't straining myself before I leveled my gun on Musou.

"Start talking, Musou. You've been acting suspicious since we've gotten here and I'd like you to start explaining."

The man shrugged, walking over to the boxes he'd been eying earlier.

"Okay, I suppose the jig is up. You've realized I'm not just some undercover rival gang member, right?"

"Quite the contrary," I replied, "Especially since you just handcuffed Bankotsu."

"Where shall I begin?"

"How about telling me what's in that box over there."

"Ahh, you noticed then. It's just something that I found earlier when I was looking around here. Something… rather interesting."

He slowly slid the lid off the box and casually moved Bankotsu further away. It was for the best, I realized, until we were done talking at least. But sooner or later, Bankotsu would have to face the truth. It was time he knew how they'd been playing him all along.

"I really didn't want him to see this. It's kind of upsetting," Musou said, walking towards us.

Inuyasha tensed, but I whispered to him, "Go along with Musou."

As I predicted, Musou knelt down beside me. Once again, he looked at my wound.

"We should probably get this tended to first, though."

"What?" Inuyasha asked, completely thrown by Musou's behavior. I'll admit, his kindness would be unnervingly strange to anyone who hadn't figured out who Musou was. But I had faith in my deductions and if I was right, everything would be just fine.

"Just help him, Inuyasha. We need to close this case," I said, acting natural.

Musou smiled, probably suspecting that I knew his real identity by now.

"But Kagome…"

"Trust me."

Inuyasha's eyes widened, and he begrudgingly muttered 'okay.' Turning to look at Musou, he frowned, "What should I do?"

"Hmmm," Musou eyed my wound again, "Not fatal at all. That could be a problem."

"So he is here then?" I asked, trying to hold Inuyasha back from jumping him over that last comment.

Musou shrugged, "He's watching every move we make."

"I understand. Now listen to me, Musou. Jakotsu's life is our first priority- do you read me?"

Inuyasha lightly shook my arm as if I was still in a stupor, "Kagome, what the hell are you saying? Your life is the most important! Even for me- so, so don't say stupid stuff like that!"

I turned towards him, my heart racing at the sincerity in his words. Smiling, I wished I had time to explain my entire deduction to him. But for right now, I was just going to hope that Inuyasha truly trusted me. If he did, then we'd all live through this okay.

"Inuyasha…please, trust me. Just don't worry, I'm not going to leave your side," I reassured him.

He looked skeptical, but my words seemed to reassure him that everything would somehow work out. Nodding, he murmured a reply.

"Okay, Kagome. I trust you."

Looking to Musou, I took a deep breath, "Musou, do what you must."

The brown-haired man took out his gun, loaded it, and aimed at us.

I reached over and took Inuyasha's hand and I could see him looking intently at me. I nodded to him that this was okay, and I felt him squeeze my hand back.

Serious expression falling over Musou's face, I could see him pull the trigger. Beside me, Inuyasha fell.

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Preview for Chapter 31:

To trust someone means everything now. With Kagome's deduction hanging in the balance, will everything turn out okay?


End file.
